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THE LIBRARY «F 
CONGRESS, 


T*o Copiet 


Received 


APR 2 


1903 


Copyright 
CLASS fc 


Entry 
XXc No. 


^ fa * 

COPY 


B. 



Copyright 1903 
By James S. Stone. 



■ 



PREFACE. 



FEW services require more preparation, both mental 
and spiritual, than that of the Three Hours on Good 
Friday. Its length, the occasion, and its subject, make 
demands upon both people and priest that can only be 
met by determined effort. But the effort and preparation 
made, no service in the year will be likely to yield such 
blessed and permanent results. 

To stand face to face at Calvary with the Lord and 
Saviour of men, there to recall vividly, to the heart and 
mind, the fact of the propitiating and atoning sacrifice, 
and to realize one's own immediate interest in the same, 
cannot be otherwise than profitable. In an age when the 
truths which centre about the Cross are by many over- 
looked and by others repudiated, it is encouraging to 
know that the observance of the Three Hours is growing. 
Every year more of our parishes keep this commemora- 
tion. The welfare of the Church rests in the position she 
takes at Calvary. If there be no Atonement, no sacrifice 
for sin, then the purpose of the Incarnation and the prom- 
ise of the Resurrection are of little avail. 

This arrangement of psalms, hymns, meditations and 
prayers is printed with the hope of helping to make the 
Three Hours still more profitable, and to further their 
observance. 

It is the result of some years of experience, and 
though faulty, as such a service dealing with facts so pro- 
found and important must needs be, it may serve at least 
as a suggestion of what the Three Hours should be. 



Indeed, the writer puts it forth only as suggestive: 
especially so in the meditations, where briefly hints are 
given which may serve as beginnings of lines of thought 
to be drawn out and completed by the priest conducting 
the service. There are more points given than are neces- 
sary, or than time will be sufficient for; so with the 
prayers and psalms. A selection must be made of either 
psalm, and of the prayers and points of meditation. 

The texts of Scripture given in italics are intended to 
illustrate the subject under which they are arranged, and 
to serve the priest as he unfolds his meditation. The eye 
may light upon some one or other of them, and at once 
the mind may make of it a fruitful application. 

Of the system upon which the service is arranged 
nothing need here be said. It will readily discover itself. 
The prayers are mostly from the Book of Common 
Prayer, though some are adaptations of ancient, mediaeval 
or Elizabethan forms. 

The Hymns, with two exceptions, are from the 
Hymnal, and should be sung to the tunes ordinarily used. 
The other two Hymns are from Stainer's "Crucifixion" 
and should be sung to the tunes there given. If these 
tunes be set lower they will come within the compass of 
most singing people. It would be well to have all the 
hymns sung occasionally at the Lenten services, so that 
at the Three Hours the congregation may be familiar 
with them. 

In the service only the Hymns should be sung, and, 
possibly, to a soft, low chant the two verses beginning 
"O Saviour of the world," which come after the Lord's 
Prayer at the end of every Meditation. No singers should 
be in the choir: only a few volunteers in the front pews to 
lead the congregation. Nor should any Gloria be said 
or sung after the psalm. The organist should have a 
schedule oi the time, and be on the alert, lest there should 



happen one of those pauses or confusions that so griev- 
ously disturb the people. 

No person should be allowed to enter or leave the 
Church except during the singing of the Hymns. A 
notice to this effect on the Church door, inside and out- 
side, will secure obedience to this very necessary rule. 

The following schedule of time will be found useful. 
Unless generally adhered to, the service will get out of 
proportion: 

Introductory .. 12:00 Fourth Word. . 1 '.2 3 p.m. 

First Word. .. 12:10 p. m. Fifth Word. . . . 1 148 

Second Word.. 1 2:34 Sixth Word...2:i2 

Third Word ...12:58 Seventh Word . 2 \^6 

After the prayers at the end of each word some space 
should be allowed for silent prayer or meditation. The 
time allowed should not be so long as to become tedious, 
nor so short as to be useless. At three o'clock, the con- 
gregation then kneeling, and in silence, the Church-bell 
should be tolled thirty-three times; after which the con- 
cluding hymn should be sung, prayers said and benedic- 
tion given. 

The writer would venture to impress upon both priest 
and people the necessity of making ready the soul and 
mind for this service. Unless the mental atmosphere 
and the spiritual inclination be in harmony with the Great 
Subject to be considered, there will be no advantage in 
the observance. 

Throughout the forenoon of Good Friday the priest 
should withdraw himself entirely from his usual course of 
work. Only at Matins, which should be said at an early 
hour, should he be seen by any of his people. All the 
musical and other arrangements of the service should be 
made the day before. Then in seclusion he should seek 
to bring himself into intimate touch with the Fact he is to 



set forth. This he may be helped in doing- by reading 
slowly, prayerfully and meditatively, some of the Messi- 
anic prophecies in the Hook of Isaiah, and the narratives 
of the Passion in the Gospel. He must strive to realize 
what this salvation is to him personally, and what he must 
show it to be to his people. There must be much prayer 
that he may be humble-minded and humble-hearted, 
earnest, devout, reverent, and warm with Divine love. 
Let the world be set aside, with its cares and pleasures, 
the parish business, the home life, the study, controversy, 
and all that interferes with a steady and persistent view of 
Calvary. No voice should be heard, no person seen, 
during those hours in which the priest endeavours by the 
grace of God to become absorbed in the contemplation of 
the Cross. 

Then, promptly at the appointed time, let him go to 
his place at the entrance of the Choir, and begin the 
service bravely and hopefully, recognizing in himself that 
he is a sinner among sinners, dependent upon the mercy 
of his Lord, and that he is to declare that Lord's love 
towards the people to whom he ministers. There should 
be no confusion of manner or utterance: a quiet, steady, 
earnest and loving setting-forth of the great History. He 
must speak of the tenderness and charity of God out of 
the fullness of his heart and the depths of his knowledge. 
He may, indeed, from this book, or from other books, 
secure; a hint or suggestion for a meditation; but the hint 
or suggestion must only be used as a gateway into a field 
or garden where he must do his own work, and bring his 
own personality into action. The meditation must be his 
own, made part of his own experience, thereby coming fresh 
and loving from his very soul. Not for a moment must he 
forget that he is standing within the; shadow and the 
glory of the Cross; and self must be emptied out and for- 



gotten. 



Scarcely less preparation is needed on the part of the 
people. They should so arrange their worldly duties 
that, in the time between Matins and noon, they may give 
themselves somewhat to prayer and the reading of 
Holy Scripture. Especially must it be kept in mind that 
this service of the Three Hours is not to be regarded as a 
substitute for Morning and Evening Prayer. Good 
Friday is a day of fasting and humiliation; and all secular 
work, as far as possible, should be set aside. They who 
attend this service should be in their place at least five 
minutes before time; and give their undivided attention to 
the service, and remain throughout the Three Hours. 

They should pray that God may give them grace to 
think profitably upon the truths presented to them, and 
that He may help the priest officiating with the fullness of 
His power. But they should not expect from the priest 
either eloquence or learning: nothing but a devout and 
loving guidance into the mystery of Calvary. They must 
go with him: as men go together to see that which they 
desire above all else, thinking not of him, but of the One 
to whom he is taking them. The Three Hours is not the 
time for rhetorical or scholarly disquisitions; and the 
priest fails who does not succeed in making the people 
forget all else save the Crucified Redeemer; and the 
people fail if they let themselves go away from the pres- 
ence of their Lord. 

It may be that this book may fall into the hands of a 
devout layman, who would gladly unite with the Church 
in this Commemoration of the Agony and Death of our 
Lord, but who, far away from place of worship or clergy- 
man, is unable to do so. The writer has a hope that such 
an one may find this service a help. It will furnish an 
outline and a suggestion of how the Three Hours may be 
observed under such circumstances. And where only a 
few Christian lay-folk can meet together, and none of 



them has the gift needful for such a Commemoration as 
they would wish, in this book will be found assistance 
enough, whereby they may express their devotion and be 

led to concentrates their attention upon their Lord. 

Possibly, too, some of the clergy will be glad of a 

service such as this. They will, perhaps, see in it much 
they do not care for, and think of much else they would 
have liked to have seen in; but the writer is sure that his 
desire, expressed by this effort to supply a want, to bring 
men to the Cross of Christ, and to help them realize the 
propitiation there offered, will make them very indulgent. 
May that dear Lord, to whose honour this service is 
humbly and gratefully offered, become more and more 
precious to His servants! 

St. James's Rectory, Chicago, 

Feast of the Purification^ 1903. 



Christ, the Author and Finisher 
of our Faith : 

" Endured the cross, despising the shamed 



N the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. Amen. 

O Lord, send us help from thy holy place ; 
Resft. — And evermore mightily defend us. 
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of 

my heart, 
Res ft. — Be alway acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, 

my strength and my redeemer. 



"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ 
Jesus : who, being in the form of God, thought it not rob- 
bery to be equal with God : but made himself of no repu- 
tation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was 
made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion 
as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto 
death, even the death of the cross." — (Phil, ii, 5-8.) 



IO 

"3nD tfjrp OucifteD Dim." 

Hymn I. 

f~\ 1 1 come and mourn with me awhile, 

^^ And tarry here the cross beside ; 
Oh come, together let us mourn ; 
Jesus, our Lord, is crucified. 

Have we no tears to shed for Him, 
While soldiers scoff and Jews deride ? 

Ah ! look how patiently He hangs ; 
Jesus, our Lord, is crucified. 

Seven times He spake, seven words of love; 

And all three hours His silence cried 
For mercy on the souls of men ; 

Jesus, our Lord, is crucified. 

O Love of God! O sin of man ! 

In this dread act your strength is tried ; 
And victory remains with love ; 

For Thou, our Lord, art crucified. 

J BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of 
■ heaven and earth: 

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord: Who was 
conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mar)-: 
Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and 
buried: He descended into hell; The third day he rose 
again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, And 
sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty: 
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. 

1 believe in the Holy Ghost: The holy Catholic 
Church; The Communion of Saints: The Forgiveness of 
sins: The Resurrection of the body: And the Life ever- 
lasting. Amen. 



II 



The Lord be with you. 
Ans, — And with thy spirit. 
Let us pray. 

OUR Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy 
Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on 
earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily 
bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive 
those who trespass against us. And lead us not into 
temptation; But deliver us from evil: For thine is the 
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and 
ever. Amen. 



ALMIGHTY God, we beseech thee graciously to be- 
hold this thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ 
was contented to be betrayed, and given up into the 
hands of wicked men, and to suffer death upon the cross; 
who now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy 
Ghost ever, one God, world without end. Amen, 

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the 
whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified; 
Receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer 
before thee for all estates of men in thy holy Church, that 
every member of the same, in his vocation and ministry, 
may truly and godly serve thee; through our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. 

O MERCIFUL God, who hast made all men, and 
hatest nothing that thou hast made, nor desirest 
the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be con- 
verted and live ; Have mercy upon all Jews, Turks, infi- 
dels, and heretics; and take from them all ignorance, 
hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word; and so 



12 



fetch them home, blessed Lord, to thy flock, that they 
may be saved among the; remnant of the true Israelites, 
and be made one fold under one shepherd, Jesus Christ 
our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy 
Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. 

WE beseech thee, O Lord, pour thy grace into our 
hearts; that, as we have known the incarnation of 
thy Son Jesus Christ by the message of an Angel, so by 
his cross and passion we may be brought unto the glory 
of his resurrection ; through the same Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 

GRANT, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, to thy faith- 
ful people pardon and peace, that they may be 
cleansed from all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet 
mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. A men. 



D 



IRECT us, O Lord, in all our doings, with thy most 
gracious favour, and further us with thy continual 
help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended 
in thee, we may glorify thy holy Name, and finally, by 
thy mercy, obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. A men. 

THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of 
God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with 
us all evermore. A men. 



13 



Suggestions: 



If we would commemorate aright the Passion of our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ, there must be on our part 

I. — Effort: Earnest, prolonged and sincere. We 
may not be idle or languid in thought or emo- 
tion ; but take full part in service and meditation, 
and resolutely get away from the world, with 
its sins, pleasures and cares. 

2. — Concentration: Our thoughts upon Him only: 
also, and above all else, our hearts and wills 
lifted up to Him, that He may enlighten, 
strengthen and sanctify us. We must get to 
Calvary, and, in the shadow of the Cross, behold 
His love. 

3. — Devotion: Giving up our self to His gracious 
influences; still and submissive at His feet ; open- 
ing heart and mind to Him, that He may come 
in and abide with us. 

A suffering Christ is not a pleasing ideal: 

Pictures, narratives and thoughts so realistic are not 
always welcome: yet every battlefield, hospital, 
mission house, and crowded street bears witness 
that tears shed beneath the Cross, as the Christ- 
truth passes into the soul, are the rains which 
quicken the harvests of human charity. 

Moreover the Captain of our salvation was made per- 
fect through sufferings; by the grace of God He 
should taste death ; and for the suffering of death 
was crowned with glory and honour. — (Heb. ii, 
9-10.) 



*4 

The Purpose underlying the Passion : 

i. — Godward: to satisfy eternal justice: 

2. — Manward: to save from sin — not only from the 
punishment, but from the evil itself. 

If we consider the Person, the Purpose and the Passion, 
we behold in Calvary the sublimest tragedy the 
world has ever known. The interest of the Universe 
centres at the Cross: storm-clouds, dark and sullen, 
overspreading the sky, threatening : the)- shall burst 
not with fires and tumults, but with love! "God so 
loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, 
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
but have everlasting life." — (St. John iii, 16.) 

As we contemplate the physical and spiritual sufferings 
of our Lord, let us never forget that the Man dying 
at Calvary is also God — God out of God, very God 
out of very God: "I verily believe that his god- 
head was not severed from his manhood for one 
moment nor for the twinkling of an eye." — (Coptic 
Liturgy.) 

It is not pity Christ asks for ; but devotion and love. 
With the knowledge of sin we shall grieve, not only 
that Christ suffered, but much more that He suffered 
for us. Our sin was the cause of His death. 

The burden and pain of the Cross lay in our Lord's 
assumption of sin, and in His sacrifice for sin. Sin- 
less Himself, lie yet bears the sin of the world; and 
He suffers, the innocent for the guilty. None other 
knew as He knew the awfulness of sin, its guilt and 
its consequences. 



i5 

In the Seven Sayings from the Cross Christ presents 
Himself in seven phases of character. 

They begin and end with the word " Father ": love, con- 
fidence and rest. 

Of the Seven Sayings the first Three concern others: the 
next Four concern Himself. The former are to Hu- 
manity ; the latter to God. 

There are depths of meaning we cannot fathom; springs 
of suggestion we cannot exhaust. How " He bare 
our sins," or how the Lord laid on Him the iniquity 
of us all, we do not now ask, even if the answer 
could be made. The love is infinite, and our hearts 
and minds are finite. 



* * * 

c< This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as 
I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that 
a man lay down his life for his friends." — (St. John xv, 
12, 13) 

" He gave himself for us, that he might redeem us 
from all iniquity, and -purify unto hi?nself a -peculiar 
people, zealous of good -works." — (Titus ii, 14.) 

u If -when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it 
patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even here- 
unto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for 
us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his 
steps." — (/ Peter ii, 20, 21.) 

* * Jesus, that he might sanctify the people with his 
own blood, suffered without the gate." — (Heb. xiii, 12.) 



SratttuSr : « *lt6Srt arc tl, f mcrtt : for tfeep ifeM tnl;rrit t»r tart!,. 



I. Christ, the Priest: 

Interceding : 

Man's Ignorance and Sin. 

[Crucified at the time of offering the morning sacrifice (9 a. m). Uttered while the soldiers 
were in the act of crucifying Him.] 

"jfattjer! forgtoe tfcem, for tyty tmoto not tofjat tje? oo," 



"Is it nothing to you, all ye that Pass by? Behold, and see if there be any 
sorrow like unto my sorrow." — {Lam. i, 12, ij.) 



Psalm 56. Miserere mei, Deus. 

BE MERCIFUL unto me, O God, for man goeth about 
to devour me: he is daily fighting, and troubling me. 

2. Mine enemies are daily in hand to swallow me up: 
for they be many that fight against me, O thou most 
Highest. 

3. Nevertheless, though I am sometime afraid: yet 
put I my trust in thee. 

4. I will praise God, because of his word: I have put 
my trust in God, and will not fear what flesh can do 
unto me. 

5. They daily mistake my words: all that they imagine 
is to do me evil. 

6. They hold all together, and keep themselves close: 
and mark my steps, when they lay wait for my soul. 

7. Shall they escape for their wickedness: thou, O 
God, in thy displeasure shalt cast them down. 

8. Thou tellest my wanderings; put my tears into thy 
bottle: are not these things noted in thy book ? 

9. Whensoever I call upon thee, then shall mine 
enemies be put to flight: this I know; for God is on my 

side. 

17 



i8 

10. In God's word will I rejoice: in the Lord's word 
will I comfort me. 

ii. Yea, in God have I put my trust: I will not be 
afraid what man can do unto me. 

12. Unto thee, O God, will I pay my vows: unto thee 
will I give thanks. 

13. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, and 
my feet from falling: that I may walk before God in the 
light of the living. 



Psalm 6. Donine, ne in furore. — (/ Penitential.) 

OLORD, rebuke me not in thine indignation: neither 
chasten me in thy displeasure. 

2. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak: O 
Lord, heal me, for my bones are vexed. 

3. My soul also is sore troubled: but, Lord, how long 
wilt thou punish me? 

4. Turn thee, O Lord, and deliver my soul: O save 
me, for thy mercy's sake. 

5. For in death no man remembereth thee: and who 
will give thee thanks in the pit? 

6. I am weary of my groaning, every night wash I 
my bed: and water my couch with my tears. 

7. My beauty is gone for very trouble: and worn 
away because of all mine enemies. 

8. Away from me, all ye that work vanity: for the 
LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping. 

9. The Lord hath heard my petition: the Lord will 
receive my prayer. 

10. All mine enemies shall be confounded, and sore 
vexed: they shall be turned back, and put to shame sud- 
denly. 



19 



" He was numbered with the transgressors, and he 
bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the trans- 
gressors." — (Isa. liiz\ 12.) 



Hymn II. 

WHEN I survey the wondrous cross 
On which the Prince of glory died, 
My richest gain I count but loss, 

And pour contempt on all my pride. 

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast. 
Save in the cross of Christ, my God : 

All the vain things that charm me most, 
I sacrifice them to His blood. 

See, from His head, His hands, His feet, 
Sorrow and love flow mingled down ! 

Did e'er such love and sorrow meet ? 
Or thorns compose so rich a crown ? 

Were the whole realm of nature mine, 
That were a tribute far too small ; 

Love so amazing, so divine, 

Demands my soul, my life, my all. 



' ' He is able also to save them to the uttermost that 
come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make in- 
tercession for them" — (Heb. vii, 25.) 






Meditation: 

Observe His self-forgetfulness : though oppressed and 
afflicted yet He opened not His mouth in complaint 
or threat. Nor does He now cry for pity, much less 
does He upbraid or prophesy. He prays not for 
Himself: nor does He ask for the legions of angels 
or that the cup may pass from Him. Rather than 
this, He pleads for those who are putting Him to 
death. They are the objects of His solicitude. He 
is dying for them ; He is dying also because of them. 

He does not say "for what they do to me* 1 : self is 
emptied out. He beholds the great conflict between 
God and Satan, between righteousness and sin, of 
which this is but a part. There have been the ages 
through which man has ignorantly wrought against 
truth and holiness. The men at Calvary are only 
doing what others have done, and knew it not. 

The prayer on the Cross goes back over the generations 
to Eden. Man had served as gods the host of 
heaven, the creatures of earth or the works of his 
own hands. He had shed innocent blood again and 
again, lie had corrupted himself. He had refused 
the service required of him by his Creator and Lord, 
and had put Him to shame. For all those deeds of 
darkness, cruelty, rejection, corruption, which culmi- 
nated in the act at Calvary, our Lord prays that man 
may be forgiven. Man had lived ignorantly. 

Ignorance needs forgiveness. No one can escape th 



v-~ ..^ ^ 



e 



consequences or the guilt of sin on the plea that he 

did not know. The poison has the same effect 



21 



whether men know it, or know it not, to be poison. 
Disease does not wait for the individual it attacks to 
acquire a knowledge of it ; and sin works the like ills 
in both foolish and wise. Man must be a recipient 
of mercy, and have his ignorance forgiven. 

The chief priests and Pharisees, ignorant in spite of their 
pretensions, the weak and cowardly Pontius Pilate, 
the rough and thoughtless soldiers, the rabble mock- 
ing and laughing, and the centurion, perhaps already 
doubtful, for these He prayed. Cruel as they had 
been to Him, He now illustrated His own principle: 
" Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do 
good to them that hate you, and pray for them which 
despitefully use you, and persecute you." The 
ills that are done us by others are as nothing com- 
pared with the ills done to our dear Lord, yet we are 
apt to ponder over them, and to meditate upon re- 
venge and punishment. In this we follow not His 
example, who forgave all the wrongs, "who, when 
he was reviled, reviled not again ; when he suffered, 
he threatened not." 

Few deaths, if any, can be more bitter or cruel than the 
death by crucifixion. Its prolonged agony, the lac- 
eration, the increasing fever, the helpless exposure 
to the sneers and reproaches of the lookers-on, the 
hunger and thirst, the slow creep-out of life, make it 
one of the most inhuman and pitiful of devices for 
punishment. This was the death by which our Lord 
suffered. How awful, then, is the declaration that 
Christian folk if they fall away, "crucify to them- 
selves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open 
shame ! ' ' None may venture to think long upon 
these words, or to search for their application or 
limits; yet are notour sins, wilfully committed against 
grace given, a sorrow and a pain to Him? 



22 



Forgiveness of others is one of the conditions necessary to 
our own forgiveness: "If ye forgive not men their 
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your 
trespasses. ' ' At the Cross we should put away from 
us all harsh and unkind thoughts, every memory of 
wrong done us, every bitter feeling. Unless we 
strive for this we cannot expect God to have mercy 
on us. 

He who in His agony interceded for His enemies, now in 
glory ever liveth to make intercession for all who 
come unto God by Him. " If any man sin, we have 
an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
righteous; and He is the Propitiation for our sins." 
Here we have a need met and a comfort given. 



* * 



How hardly man this lesson learns, 

To smile, and bless the hand that spurns; 

To see the blow, to feel the pain, 

And render only love again! 

One had it — but He came from heaven, 

Reviled, rejected and betrayed; 

No curse He breathed, no plaint He made, 

But when in death's dark pang He sighed, 

Prayed for His murderers, and died." 



o 



23 



The Lord be with you. 
Ans. And with thy spirit. 
Let us pray. 

UR FATHER: 



O SAVIOUR of the world, who by thy Cross and 
Precious Blood hast redeemed us : Save us, and 
help us, we humbly beseech thee, O Lord. 

We pray thee, O Christ, by thy loving kindness and 
mercy, which caused thee to suffer these pains for our 
sake, let thy passion be the full pardon of all our sins. 
Ame?i. 

GRANT, O Lord, that, in all our sufferings here upon 
earth for the testimony of thy truth, we may sted- 
fastly look up to heaven, and by faith behold the glory 
that shall be revealed ; and, being filled with the Holy 
Ghost, may learn to love and bless our persecutors by 
the example of thy first Martyr Saint Stephen, who prayed 
for his murderers to thee, O blessed Jesus, who standest 
at the right hand of God to succour all those who suffer 
for thee, our only Mediator and Advocate. A??ien. 

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing 
that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all 
those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and 
contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and 
acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the 
God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



24 

OGOD, who declarest thy almighty power chiefly in 
showing mercy and pity ; Mercifully grant unto us 
such a measure of thy grace, that we, running the way of 
thy commandments, ma)' obtain thy gracious promises, 
and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure ; through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. A men. 

OLORD, who hast taught us that all our doings with- 
out charity are nothing worth; Send thy Holy Ghost, 
and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of 
charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without 
which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee. 
Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ's sake. 
Amen. 

OLORD, for thy great pity, we beseech thee, unbind 
the bonds of all our sins, lighten us with virtue, give 
to us peace and health, put awav from us all ills, both 
those that we see, and those that we see not ; and to us, 
and all our friends and enemies, give thy charity ; to all 
sick thy health ; and to all Christian folk life and endless 
rest: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



O JESUS CHRIST, our most dear Lord and Saviour, 
remember, we pray thee, the sorrow that thou suf- 
feredst, when upon the Cross thou wast lifted up from the 
earth, and men so wounded thee that no sorrow was like 
unto thy sorrow. Yet didst thou, forgetting thy grievous 
pains, beseech thy Father to forgive those who had so 
cruelly wronged thee. For this thy blessed charity and 
plenteous mercy, that thou showedst to thine enemies, 
grant us that looking upon thee, we may have remission 
and forgiveness of all our sins, and great peace ; that we 
may glorify thee, who, with the Father and the Holy 
Ghost, art one God, blessed for evermore. Amen, 



33eatttn&e: "3Slce;se& are tf)e merciful: for t&ep c&all obtain mercp." 

Lore's Praper : u }>allome& be tbp name ": — 

JForgioen anK sanctified, t^ep sfoall glorifp |)un. 

jftcssage of t&e LorU ^ccfttes to tf)c CImrcI): 

" Co form tfoat ooercometj) mill % ffitoe to eat of t&e tree of life, 
mlntl) is in t&c miUst of tfce parafctee of (Bofc." 



II. Christ, the King: 

Exercising royal ftotver : 

Mail's Cry for Mercy. 

[Uttered towards noon. He had been reviled, scorned and set at naught.] 

" And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou contest into thy 
kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, 

"£o&ap aljalt ttjou be tottt) me in ]paraDt*r," 



" As for me, I will behold thy Presence in righteousness : and when I 
awake up after thy likeness, I shall be satisfied with it." — (Ps. xvii, 16.) 



Psalm 27. Dominus illuminatio. 

THE Lord is my light and my salvation: whom then 
shall I fear: the Lord is the strength of my life; of 
whom then shall I be afraid? 

2. When the wicked, even mine enemies and my 
foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh: they stumbled and 
fell. 

3. Though an host of men were laid against me, yet 
shall not my heart be afraid: and though there rose up 
war against me, yet will I put my trust in him. 

4. One thing have I desired of the Lord, which I 
will require: even that I may dwell in the house of the 
Lord all the days of my life, to behold the fair beauty of 
the Lord, and to visit his temple. 

5. For in the time (^i trouble he shall hide me in his 
tabernacle: yea, in the secret place of his dwelling shall 
he hide me, and set me up upon a rock of stone. 

6. And now shall he lift up mine head: above mine 
enemies round about me. 



27 

7. Therefore will I offer in his dwelling an oblation, 
with great gladness: I will sing and speak praises unto 
the Lord. 

8. Hearken unto my voice, O Lord, when I cry unto 
thee: have mercy upon me, and hear me. 

9. My heart hath talked of thee, Seek ye my face: 
Thy face, Lord, will I seek. 

10. O hide not thou thy face from me: nor cast thy 
servant away in displeasure. 

1 1. Thou hast been my succour: leave me not, neither 
forsake me, O God of my salvation. 

12. When my father and my mother forsake me: the 
Lord taketh me up. 

13. Teach me thy way, O Lord: and lead me in the 
right way, because of mine enemies. 

14. Deliver me not over into the will of mine adver- 
saries: for there are false witnesses risen up against me, 
and such as speak wrong. 

15. I should utterly have fainted: but that I believe 
verily to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the 
living. 

16. O tarry thou the Lord's leisure: be strong, and 
he shall comfort thine heart; and put thou thy trust in the 
Lord. 



Psalm 3 2 . Beati quorum. — ( 2 Penitential. ) 

BLESSED is he whose unrighteousness is forgiven: 
and whose sin is covered. 

2. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth 
no sin: and in whose spirit there is no guile. 

3. For whilst I held my tongue: my bones consumed 
away through my daily complaining. 

4. For thy hand is heavy upon me day and night: 
and my moisture is like the drought in summer. 



28 

5. I will acknowledge my sin unto thee: and mine 
unrighteousness have I not hid. 

6. I said, I will confess my sins unto the Lord: and 
so thou forgavest the wickedness of my sin. 

7. For this shall every one that is godly make his 
prayer unto thee, in a time when thou mayest be found: 
but in the great water-floods they shall not come nigh him. 

(S. Thou art a place to hide me in, thou shalt preserve 
me from trouble: thou shalt compass me about with songs 
of deliverance. 

9. I will inform thee, and teach thee in the way 
wherein thou shalt go: and I will guide thee with mine eye. 

10. Be ye not like to horse and mule which have no 
understanding: whose mouths must be held with bit and 
bridle, lest they fall upon thee. 

11. Great plagues remain for the ungodly: but whoso 
putteth his trust in the Lord, mercy embraceth him on 
every side. 

12. Be glad, O ye righteous, and rejoice in the Lord: 
and be joyful, all ye that are true of heart. 



* 



11 When tli on hadst overcome the sharpness of death : 
thou didst open the Kingdom of I leaven to at! believers" 
— ( Te Deum.) 

"Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabitetii 
eternity, -chose name is Iloty ; I dwell in the high and hot y 
place, with him at so that is of a contrite and humble spirit, 
to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart 
of the contrite ones/' — (Isa* lvi/\ /J. ) 



29 



c< 



God commendeth his love toward us, in that, 
-while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much 
more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be 
saved from wrath through him" — {Rom. v, 8, p.) 

Hymn III. 

OTHOU, from Whom all goodness flows, 
I lift my heart to Thee; 
In all my sorrows, conflicts, woes, 
Dear Lord, remember me. 

When on my aching, burdened heart 

My sins lie heavily, 
Thy pardon grant, Thy peace impart: 

In love, remember me. 

When trials sore obstruct my way, 

And ills I cannot flee, 
Oh let my strength be as my day! 

For good, remember me. 

If worn with pain, disease and grief, 

This feeble frame should be, 
Grant patience, rest, and kind relief: 

Hear and remember me. 

And oh, when in the hour of death 

I own Thy just decree, 
Be this the prayer of my last breath, 

Dear Lord, remember me. 



" If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to 
God by the death of his Son, much more, being recon- 
ciled, we shall be saved by his life" — {Rom. v, 10.) 



3° 



Meditation: 

The weary hours drag on; the heat deepens; and 
exposed to the gaze of curious and cruel spectators, 
Christ passes farther on into His sufferings. So great 
is His anguish that He oaves no heed to the confu- 
sion of ribaldry, jest and taunt. He opens not His 
mouth; but waits the coming of death. Yet ere the 
gloom gathers for the great darkness salvation came 
to the man who was dying, tradition says, in the 
shadow of His cross. The cry for mercy was heard 
by Christ above the storm and stress that afflicted 
Him. It was late in the man's life, but not too late 
for the Lord Jesus. 

"Lord, remember me:" forgotten by his friends; a dis- 
honoured life and an empty name; yet he dares to pray 
that he may be in the mind of the King! He has 
been with Him in His shame, can he be with Him in 
His glory? 

"When thou comest in thy kingdom:" The one man in 
all the world at that moment who believed that Jesus 
was a King, and would hereafter set up His kingdom. 

I Iumility is the way to God: " He hath exalted the hum- 
ble and meek" — "giveth grace to the humble." 
The man has no excuse for himself; no merit; no 
claim. 

How precious this soul must have been to Christ! Won 
by the Passion before the Cross is left; drawn by the 
power of Love. 

"To-day:" The thief spoke of the future: Christ sneaks 
of the present. Though the body shall die. the man 
lives on. " To-day:" before- this burning sun has set! 



3i 

" With me:" Out of the reach of sin; associated with the 
Lord Jesus — education, development, security, joy: 
"In Paradise:" where the blessed ones await the 
resurrection, and are prepared further for the happi- 
ness and purity of heaven. The outcast of earth 
shall be with the King! Think of the contrast 
between the sins and the companions of the past, and 
the new life now beginning! Also the contrast 
between pain and Paradise! 

Note the forgiveness of sin: this man's life! Not unlikely 
earlier he had even reviled the crucified Christ. But 
the marvel is not so much in the Mercy shewn, as in 
the Grace given, whereby the man repented and 
prayed. As in a flash there came the gift of faith, 
so mighty that, in spite of the scoffing multitude and 
his own pain, the man saw the King. 

Our Lord enters the Presence of God, not with the best 
and greatest of earth, but with a poor, forsaken, 
despised thief: returns home with the first trophy of 
His salvation — a weak, penitent sinner. "He hath 
sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim 
liberty to the captives, and the opening- of the prison 
to them that are bound." (Isa. lxi, i.) 

Our Lord saved one man at the last moment that none 
might despair: and only one that none might presume. 

Till death came the suffering of the cross was not less, 
but the penitent was not the same: Christ was with 
him in the Valley of the Shadow. He was happy. 
The nails held fast his hands and feet, but the chains 
had fallen from his soul. When death comes he 
leaves his cross with all its pain and goes up singing 
to his crown. 

Suffering may harden, as it did the impenitent thief, even 
into obstinate defiance; but suffering may soften the 



32 

heart and bring out the noblest traits of character. 
Here on a cross a sufferer found Christ. From our 
cross, we, too, may see Him, love Him, worship 
Him. 

This man was the only one in the awful hours at Calvary 
who approached in experience the sufferings of our 
Lord. Wondrous honour! Yet the parting came — 
the penitent rose into light: the Saviour went on His 
way alone into deeper darkness. 



* * 



1 I love to think of heaven; the cloudless light, 
Its tearless joys, its recognitions, and its fellowships 
Of love and joy unending; but when my mind anticipates 
The sight of God incarnate, wearing on His hands 
And feet and sides marks of the wounds, 
Which He for me on Calvary endured, 
All heaven beside is swallowed up in this; 
And He who was my hope of heaven below 
Becomes the glory of my heaven above." 



33 



The Lord be with you. 
Ans. — And with thy spirit. 
Let us pray. 



o 



UR FATHER: 



O SAVIOUR of the world, who by thy Cross and 
precious Blood hast redeemed us; Save us, and 
help us, we humbly beseech thee, O Lord. 

We pray thee, O Christ, write all thy wounds in our 
hearts with thy most precious blood, that in them we may 
read thy great love towards us. Amen. 

OLORD, we beseech thee, mercifully hear our pray- 
ers, and spare all those who confess their sins unto 
thee; that they, whose consciences by sin are accused, by 
thy merciful pardon may be absolved; through Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 

OMOST mighty God, and merciful Father, who hast 
compassion upon all men, and who wouldest not the 
death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his 
sin, and be saved; Mercifully forgive us our trespasses; 
receive and comfort us, who are grieved and wearied with 
the burden of our sins. Thy property is always to have 
mercy; to thee only it appertaineth to forgive sins. Spare 
us therefore, good Lord, spare thy people, whom thou 
hast redeemed; enter not into judgment with thy servants, 
who are vile earth, and miserable sinners; but so turn 
thine anger from us, who meekly acknowledge our vile- 
ness, and truly repent us of our faults, and so make haste 
to help us in this world, that we may ever live with thee 
in the world to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 



34 

OGOD, merciful Father, who despisest not the sigh- 
ing of a contrite heart, nor the desire of such as 
are sorrowful; Mercifully assist our prayers which we 
make before thee in all our troubles and adversities, 
whensoever they oppress us; and graciously hear us, that 
those evils which the craft and subtilty of the devil or 
man worketh against us, may, by thy good providence, 
be brought to nought; that we thy servants, being hurt 
by no persecutions, may evermore give thanks unto thee 
in thy holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Aiuoi. 

OGOD, whose nature and property is ever to have 
mercy and to forgive; Receive our humble peti- 
tions; and though we be tied and bound with the chain 
of our sins, yet let the pitifulness of thy great mercy loose 
us; for the honour of Jesus Christ, our Mediator and 
Advocate. Amen. 

BLESSED Jesus, say thou unto each one of us, " This 
day shalt thou be with me in Paradise;" say thou 
unto each one of us, " Fear not, for it is my Father's good 
pleasure to give thee the kingdom." Let us dwell in safe 
and pleasant regions, be supported with the hope of God, 
rejoice in pardon, be refreshed with the visitation of 
angels, and walk in white, wherever thou, O Saviour 
Christ, shalt go: Who with the Father and the Holy Ghost 
abideth one God, world without end. Amen. 



33eatittt&e : "3Sles6e& are t&e poor in spirit: for t&eirs is t&e kingdom of 
(0ofc." 

Lore's flraper: M SHjp kingdom come ";— 
C&e first frmts fcroupjt in. 

JHessaje of tjje LorO Jesus to t&e Cbttrclj: 

"pz t|)at obercometl) sljall not be [mrt of t&e seconti Ueaty 



III. Christ, the Child and Friend: 

The sac redness of human ties and sorrows. 

[Uttered before noon.] 

" Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother s sister, 
Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mar}' Magdalene : when Jesus therefore saw 
his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith 

♦♦Ionian! bcljott) tljy son* §>on ! brljola ttjp mother," 



" Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the 
end." {St. John xiii, /.) 



Psalm 34. Benedicam Dominum. 

IWILL alway give thanks unto the Lord: his praise 
shall ever be in my mouth. 

2. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the 
humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. 

3. () praise the Lord with me: and let us magnify 
his Name together. 

4. I sought the Lord, and he heard me: yea, he 
delivered me out of all my fear. 

5. They had an eye unto him, and were lightened: 
and their faces were not ashamed. 

6. Lo, the poor crieth, and the Lord heareth him: 
, and saveth him out of all his troubles. 

7. The angel of the LORD tarrieth round about them 
that fear him: and delivered"! them. 

S. ( ) taste, and see, how gracious the Lord is: 
blessed is the man that trusteth in him. 

9. () fear the LORD, ye that are his saints: tor they 
that fear him lack nothing. 

IO. The lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they who 
seel: the 1 ■ shall want no manner of thing that is good. 

36 



37 

ii. Come, ye children, and hearken unto me: I will 
teach you the fear of the Lord. 

12. What man is he that lusteth to live: and would 
fain see good days? 

13. Keep thy tongue from evil: and thy lips, that they 
speak no guile. 

14. Eschew evil, and do good: seek peace, and 
ensue it. 

15. The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous: and 
his ears are open unto their prayers. 

16. The countenance of the Lord is against them 
that do evil: to root out the remembrance of them from 
the earth. 

17. The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth them: 
and delivereth them out of all their troubles. 

18. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a con- 
trite heart: and will save such as be of an humble spirit. 

19. Great are the troubles of the righteous: but the 
Lord delivereth him out of all. 

20. He keepeth all his bones: so that not one of them 
is broken. 

21. But misfortune shall slay the ungodly: and they 
that hate the righteous shall be desolate. 

22. The Lord delivereth the souls of his servants: 
and all they that put their trust in him shall not be des- 
titute. 



Psalm 38. Domine, ne in furore, (j Penitential.} 

PUT me not to rebuke, O Lord, in thine anger: neither 
chasten me in thy heavy displeasure : 

2. For thine arrows stick fast in me: and thy hand 
presseth me sore. 

3. There is no health in my flesh, because of thy 
displeasure: neither is there any rest in my bones, by 
reason of my sin. 



38 

4. For my wickednesses are gone over my head: and 
are like a sore burden, too heavy for me to bear. 

5. My wounds stink, and are corrupt: through my 
foolishness. 

6. I am brought into so great trouble and misery: 
that I go mourning all the day long. 

7. For my loins are filled with a sore disease: and 
there is no whole part in my body. 

8. I am feeble and sore smitten: I have roared for the 
very disquietness of my heart. 

9. Lord, thou knowest all my desire: and my groan- 
ing is not hid from thee. 

10. My heart panteth, my strength hath failed me: and 
the light of mine eyes is gone from me. 

1 1. My lovers and my neighbours did stand looking 
upon my trouble: and my kinsmen stood afar off. 

12. They also that sought after my life laid snares for 
me: and they that went about to do me evil talked of 
wickedness, and imagined deceit all the day long. 

13. As for me, I was like a deaf man, and heard 
not: and as one that is dumb, who doth not open his 
mouth. 

14. I became even as a man that heareth not: and in 
whose mouth are no reproofs. 

15. For in thee, O Lord, have I put my trust: thou 
shalt answer for me, O Lord my God. 

16. I have required that the)-, even my enemies, 
should not triumph over me: for when my foot slipt, they 
rejoiced greatly against me. 

17. And I trul)- am set in the plague: and my heavi- 
ness is ever in my sight. 

iS. For I will confess my wickedness: and be sorry 
tor m\- sin. 

19. Hut mine enemies live, and are might)-: and they 
that hate me wrongfully are man)- in number. 



39 

20. They also that reward evil for good are against 
me: because I follow the thing that good is. 

21. Forsake me not, O Lord my God: be not thou far 
from me. 

22. Haste thee to help me: O Lord God of my salva- 
tion. 



* * * 



u Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all 
comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that 
we may be able to comfort them which are in any 
trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are com- 
forted of God." — (p Cor. i, ^.) 

" The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because 
the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto 
the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken 
hearted \ * * * to comfort all that mourn, * * * 
to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for 
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of 
heaviness." — (Isa. li, 1-3.) 

u In the world ye shall have tribulation." — {St. 
John xvi,jj.) 

" They that sow in tears: shall reap in joy." — 
{Ps. cxxvi, 6.) 

" God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes" 
— {Rev. vii, //.) 



4 o 



Hymn IV. 

SWEET the moments, rich in blessing, 
Which before the cross I spend; 
Life and health and peace possessing, 
From the sinner's dying Friend. 

Here I rest, for ever viewing, 

Mercy poured in streams of blood: 

Precious drops, for pardon suing, 
Make and plead my peace with God. 

Truly blessed is the station, 

Low before His cross to lie; 
While I see divine compassion 

Beaming in His dying eye. 

1 1 ere 1 find my hope of heaven, 
While upon the Lamb I gaze; 

Loving much, and much forgiven, 
Let my heart o'erfiow with prai 

Lord, in loving contemplation 
Fix my heart and eyes on Thee, 

Till I taste Thy full salvation, 
And thine unveiled glories s< 

For Thy sorrows 1 adore Th< 

For the griefs that wrought our peace; 
Gracious Saviour, I implore Thee, 

In my heart Thy love increase. 



4i 



Meditation: 

"The disciple whom Jesus loved:" probably the young- 
est of the Twelve: noble, strong, hearty, sympathetic: 
ever doing tender and loving service to his Master: 
not afraid to be near Christ, in the Palace of the High 
Priest, before Herod, and now under the Cross. He 
loved Jesus best, and therefore should he be entrusted 
with a most sacred duty. 

The sword had come with deadly thrust into the heart of 
the Blessed Virgin. So near to Christ, and yet to 
suffer! "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth;" 
and she had said to the angel, "Behold the hand- 
maid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy 
word." She stood by the Cross: the position beto- 
kens courage. She would not have Him come down 
from the Cross. She sorrows: and in sorrow is a 
woman's strength, and not a woman's weakness. 
The bitterest of days has come to her: but at the 
Cross, though she shall lose her Son, she shall find 
her God. 

Christ has thought for the less as well as for the greater 
things of life. Though in the way to redeem the 
world, He loves and provides for His Mother. He 
is her only Child: no other is there to care for her; 
therefore He gives her to John. And John who had 
loved so well, should provide for her who was to 
Jesus dearest of all earthly beings. Christ had no 
home, no possessions, nowhere to lay His head: 
only His Mother. 

He recognizes and appreciates the mystery and sorrow of 
separation. There is no stoical indifference to grief. 



4 2 

He does not reproach or attempt to stay the tears. 
He pities and loves. Even though He realizes, as 
His loved ones could not, the continuity of life, He 
sympathizes with them in their weakness of fear and 
isolation. His heart suffers with and for them. So 
it is now. In our bereavements He understands and 
comes close to us. 

Our earthly loves are not incompatible with the Divine 
love. God made the family; and God lived in the 
family. Our Lord loved St. John, and Lazarus, Mary 
and Martha: showing that He possessed all the char- 
acteristics and powers of our human nature. The 
attachments we make, and the relations into which 
we come, one with another, are sacred in God's 
sight ; and we need not fear, as some have feared, that 
God demands of us an exclusive exercise of love. 
Affection must not, indeed, interfere with duty; and 
we must not make gods to ourselves out of the 
objects of affection. 

Our sorrows are not necessarily proofs of God's anger. 
Some have thought that trials and afflictions are the 
evidences of sin. Yet Job was tried though he was 
a righteous man. The Blessed Virgin and St. John 
were sorely tried: but Jesus loved them, and rather 
than sending Him to Calvary, they would have died 
for Him. 

In His word to His Mother and the Beloved Disciple, 
Christ gently, but surely, severs the tie of human 
relationship. Henceforth He is not to be spoken of, 
or spoken to, as though He were only one of us. 
"Though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet 
now henceforth know we him no more," (2 Cor. v, 
16). Even the BlessedlVirgin must realize a changed 
and a higher condition. "Whosoever shall do the 



43 

will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my 
brother and sister and mother." (St. Matt, xii, 50). 

His word reminds us that by the will of God, they who 
are baptized into God are one family in Christ Jesus: 
new relationships, new ties, fresh joys, and one com- 
mon expectation. In those who love and serve Him 
we are to see our fellows: and love and honour them. 

In the Blessed Virgin at Calvary is the type of the Church 
of God mourning for the Great Sacrifice. St. John 
represents the Apostles and Disciples of our Lord. 
To their love and care Christ commits His Church. 
They are to look up to her — to feed and provide for 
the Lord's family. She is to help them. 



* * * 



u Oh, Thou! that dry'st the mourner's tear, 
How dark this world would be, 
If, when deceived and wounded here, 
We could not fly to Thee! 

" But Thou wilt heal the broken heart, 
Which, like the plants that throw 
Their fragrance from the wounded part, 
Breathes sweetness out of woe. 

" Then sorrow, touch 'd by Thee, grows right 
With more than rapture's ray, 
As darkness shows us worlds of light 
We could not see by day." 



o 



44 



The Lord be with you. 
Arts. — And with thy spirit, 
Let us pray. 

UR FATHER: 



O SAVIOUR of the world, who by thy Cross and 
precious Blood hast redeemed us; save us, and 
help us, we humbly beseech thee, O Lord. 

We pray thee, O Christ, deliver us from all our ene- 
mies, and grant that we may find both protection in this 
life, and also endless felicity in the life to come, under the 
shadow of thy wings. Amen. 

OGOD, the protector of all that trust in thee, without 
whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy; Increase 
and multiply upon us thy mercy; that, thou being our 
ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, 
that we finally lose not the things eternal. Grant this, () 
heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ's sake our Lord. A men. 

OGOD, who know est us to be set in the midst of so 
man)- and great dangers, that by reason of the 
frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright : 
Grant to us such strength and protection, as may support 
us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations ; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen* 

OGOD, whose never-failing providence ordereth all 
things both in heaven aral earth; We humhh 
beseech thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to 
give us those things which are profitable for us; through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. A men. 



45 

WE humbly beseech thee, O Father, mercifully to look 
upon our infirmities; and, for the glory of thy 
Name, turn from us all those evils that we most justly 
have deserved ; and grant, that in all our troubles we may 
put our whole trust and confidence in thy mercy, and 
evermore serve thee in holiness and pureness of living, to 
thy honour and glory; through our only Mediator and 
Advocate, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who art always more 
ready to hear than we to pray, and art wont to give 
more than either we desire or deserve ; Pour down upon 
us the abundance of thy mercy ; forgiving us those things 
whereof our conscience is afraid, and giving us those 
good things which we are not worthy to ask, but through 
the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thy Son, our 
Lord. Amen, 

LORD, we beseech thee to keep thy household the 
Church in continual godliness ; that through thy 
protection it may be free from all adversities, and 
devoutly given to serve thee in good works, to the glory 
of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

O MERCIFUL Father, give unto us thy saving health, 
that we may have quietness of conscience, freedom 
from anxiety, an assurance of unending mercy, and the 
joyful hope that hereafter we may live ever with thee; for 
Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. 



SeatitvUe: "4Sle0jgeJj arr tbrp tbat mourn: for tbrp fiball far romfortro." 

Loro'6 praprr: "<Ebp mill fac fconr on cart!), 2& it is tn braorn": — 
^ufamtfifiton: <E\)ia ts of £>otj'6 appointment. 

iHrceagr of tbr Loro 3Jrsti6 to tbr Cljurcl): 

"Co bun tbat oorrromrtb mill 3f fftbc to rat of tbc btoorn manna, 
ann mill trine |)tm a mbttc fitonr, anfi tn tbr stonr a nrm namr 
mrtttrn, mbicb no man nnomrtb caning; be tbat rrcrttortb tt." 



C^e Silence* 

" j&om from tlje fiirtl) &ottr tljere mas Uarkness ober all tjje Ianfc unto 
t&e nintl) (jour." (g>t. JHatt, rr it, 45.) 

**StnH it filjall come to pass in t&at &ap, eaitl) t&e Lor& (0oU, t|)at 3T 
mill cause tlje sun to p fcomn at noon, an& 3 totll &arfeen t&e eart& in t&e 
clear fcaj>." (&mofi biti, 9.) 



4 8 



Before the Darkness: 

"All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot 
out their lips and shake their heads, saying, He 
trusted in God, that he would deliver him: let him 
deliver him if he will have him: 

"They pierced my hands and my feet; I may tell all 
my bones: 

" They stand staring and looking upon me: 

4 'They part my garments among them: and cast 
lots upon my vesture." 

jpoto in ttje EDartmcfltf all i& still, 

Christ pleads not for mercy from His persecutors: 
He makes no response to their insults: 
He prays not that God should spare Him. 

"He hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." 
"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on 
the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live 
unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were 
healed.' ' 



IV. Christ, the Martyr: 

Suffering spiritual -pain; as the Sin- Bearer. 

[Uttered towards the end of the Silence.] 

" Thy rebuke hath broken my heart ; I am full of heaviness : I looked for 
some to have pity on ine, but there was no man, neither found I any to comfort 
me." — {Ps. Ixix, 21.) 

" And about the ninth hour fesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, 
lama sabachthani?" that is to say, 

"tyfy $o&! $$y <£>o&! tot)p &a$t tfyou forsaken me?" 



" Cast me not away from thy presence : and take ?iot thy Holy Spirit from 
me."—{Ps. li, 11.) 



Psalm 22. Deus, Deus meus. 

MY GOD, my God, look upon me; why hast thou for- 
saken me: and art so far from my health, and 
from the words of my complaint? 

2. O my God, I cry in the day-time, but thou hearest 
not: and in the night season also I take no rest. 

3. And thou continuest holy: O thou Worship of 
Israel. 

4. Our fathers hoped in thee: they trusted in thee, 
and thou didst deliver them. 

5. They called upon thee, and were holpen: they put 
their trust in thee, and were not confounded. 

6. But as for me, I am a worm, and no man: a very 
scorn of men, and the outcast of the people. 

7. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot 
out their lips, and shake their heads, saying, 

8. He trusted in God, that he would deliver him: let 
him deliver him, if he will have him. 



49 



5o 

9. But thou art he that took me out of my mother's 
womb: thou wast my hope, when I hanged yet upon my 
mother's breasts. 

10. I have been left unto thee ever since I was born: 
thou art my God even from my mother's womb. 

ii. Oi[0 not from me; for trouble is hard at hand: 
and there is none to help me. 

12. Many oxen are come about me: fat bulls of Basan 
close me in on every side. 

13. They gape upon me with their mouths: as it were 
a ramping and a roaring lion. 

14. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are 
out of joint: my heart also in the midst of my body is even 
like melting wax. 

15. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my 
tongue cleaveth to my gums: and thou shalt bring me into 
the dust of death. 

16. For many dogs are come about me: and the coun- 
cil of the wicked layeth siege against me. 

1 7. They pierced my hands and my feet; I may tell all 
my bones: they stand staring and looking upon me. 

18. They part my garments among them: and cast 
lots upon my vesture. 

19. But be not thou far from me, O Lord: thou art 
my succour, haste thee to help me. 

20. Deliver my soul from the sword: my darling from 
the power of the dog. 

21. Save me from the lion's mouth: thou hast heard 
me also from among the horns of the unicorns. 

22. I will declare thy Name unto my brethren: in the 
midst of the congregation will I praise thee. 

23. O praise the Lord, ye that fear him: magnify him, 
all ye of the seed of Jacob; and fear him, all ye seed of 
Israel. 



5i 

24. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the low 
estate of the poor: he hath not hid his face from him; but 
when he called unto him he heard him. 

25. My praise is of thee in the great congregation: 
my vows will I perform in the sight of them that fear him. 

26. The poor shall eat, and be satisfied: they that 
seek after the Lord shall praise him; your heart shall 
live for ever. 

27. All the ends of the world shall remember them- 
selves, and be turned unto the Lord: and all the kin- 
dreds of the nations shall worship before him. 

28. For the kingdom is the Lord's: and he is the 
Governor among the people. 

29. All such as be fat upon earth: have eaten, and 
worshipped. 

30. All they that go down into the dust shall kneel 
before him: and no man hath quickened his own soul. 

31. My seed shall serve him: they shall be counted 
unto the Lord for a generation. 

32. They shall come, and the heavens shall declare 
his righteousness: unto a people that shall be born, whom 
the Lord hath made. 



Psalm 51. Miserere met, Deus — (^ Penitential.} 

HAVE mercy upon me, O God, after thy great good- 
ness: according to the multitude of thy mercies do 
away mine offences. 

2. Wash me throughly from my wickedness: and 
cleanse me from my sin. 

3. For I acknowledge my faults: and my sin is ever 
before me. 

4. Against thee only have I sinned, and done this 
evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified in thy 
saying, and clear when thou art judged. 



52 

5. Behold, I was shapen in wickedness: and in sin 
hath my mother conceived me. 

6, But lo, thou requirest truth in the inward parts: 
and shalt make me to understand wisdom secretly. 

j. Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be 
clean: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 

8. Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness: 
that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 

9. Turn thy face from my sins: and put out all my 
misdeeds. 

10. Make me a clean heart, O God: and renew a right 
spirit within me. 

11. Cast me not away from thy presence: and take 
not thy holy Spirit from me. 

12. O give me the comfort of thy help again: and 
stablish me with thy free Spirit. 

13. Then shall I teach thy ways unto the wicked: and 
sinners shall be converted unto thee. 

14. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou 
that art the God of my health: and my tongue shall sing 
of thy righteousness. 

15. Thou shalt open my lips, O Lord: and my mouth 
shall show thy praise. 

16. For thou desirest no sacrifice, else would I give 
it thee: but thou delightest not in burnt-offerings. 

17. The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit: a broken 
and contrite heart, O God, shalt thou not despise. 

iS. () be favourable and gracious unto Sion: build 
thou the walls of Jerusalem. 

[9. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrific 
righteousness, with the burnt-offerings and oblations: then 
shall they offer young bullocks upon thine alt 



53 



" God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of 
our Lord Jesus Christ" {Gal. vi, 14.) 



Hymn V. 

CROSS of Jesus, Cross of Sorrow, 
Where the blood of Christ was shed, 
Perfect man on Thee was tortured, 
Perfect God on Thee has bled. 

Here the King of all the ages, 

Throned in light ere worlds could be, 

Robed in mortal flesh is dying, 
Crucified by sin for me. 

Evermore for human failure 
By His passion He can plead; 

God has borne all mortal anguish, 
Surely He will know our need. 

This — all human thought surpassing — 
This is earth's most awful hour, 

God has taken mortal weakness! 
God has laid aside His Power. 



" / can do all things through Christ which strength- 
eneth me" {Phil, iv, 13.) 



54 



Meditation: 

Our dear Lord passed alone into the darkness and the 
silence; and, even were it possible, no mind dare 
follow Him there. None may ever know the suf- 
fering- of the Son of God in those hours of speech- 
less grief. 

Nature seemed to bid farewell to its Creator, and to 
refuse to behold His anguish. The weird gloom 
that overspread the land was not an eclipse, for 
the moon was now full, and though it may have 
been the darkness that frequently precedes an 
earthquake, with which the tragedy of Calvary 
closed, — in which case the coincidence of darkness 
and earthquake with the death of Christ would be 
scarcely less significant, — yet the sacred narrative 
implies an occurrence supernatural and unique. 
The whole creation was interested in the salvation 
wrought by Christ: were it for nothing else than 
the kindlier way in which the Christian regards 
and treats all living things, and makes use of them 
for purposes that shall be for happiness and good, 
rather than for misery and ill. 

Now the idle or angry folk around our Blessed Lord 
are still: the Beloved Disciple has taken away His 
Mother: He is left to Himself. And the agonies 
of the Cross are slowly deepening into the bitter- 
ness of death. There came upon Him a great 
horror — stranger than that which fell upon Abra- 
ham at the going clown of the sun: not only man, 
but it seemed as if God Himself, had given Him 



55 

up. He no longer felt the joy of union with the 
Father. Not that the Divine consciousness could 
have been extinguished; but in His human nature, 
which only was the suffering and dying nature, He 
reached depths of woe beyond all depths that other 
man has ever experienced. He realized the lone- 
liness, the isolation, of the soul in its greatest sor- 
rows. A boundless desert of grief: no sound, no 
voice — the winds still and the beat of sunbeams on 
the sands gone. 

The silence of God! And we pray and weep and wait; 
and oftentimes God makes no answer. Or, perhaps, 
we have not the ears to hear. Whichever it be, 
the pain is the same. 

There came against Him the Prince of Darkness to cut 
Him off from God: the last temptation — in the 
wilderness worse than that where once He was 
ahungered; the bitter, hatred-swelling battle of evil 
against good. 

Christ must feel the woe even of a lost and forsaken 
soul, that He may know the depths of misery, 
and by His sacrifice save the abandoned. It is not 
the example of His holy life that redeems ; but this 
journey through the valley of the shadow of death. 

The cry from the Cross, with which the silence ended, 
was not of despair, but of supreme anguish: much 
less is it of reproach or of disappointment. The 
deepest depth of the Passion was reached, and the 
isolation was more than even the soul of Christ 
could longer endure. He cannot die without God! 

The wail of a pure and beautiful young life made for 
the sunshine of Galilee, as it felt the last drops 
pouring out on the dust of Golgotha! More than 
that: It was the piteous cry of the sacrifice pierced 



5^ 

with the flame of the altar! M My Lord and my 
God!" 

Yet the many waters of anguish which had swept so 
relentlessly over I lis soul could not quench His 
love: "My God" — still His God. So Job said: 
"Though lie slay me, yet will I trust Him." 

But God forsakes no one that can cry out for His pres- 
ence. The sun, though hidden by the veil of clouds, 
was shining all the while ; and though sin or sor- 
row come like the darkness between the soul and 
God, yet God remains always the same. He hath 
said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." 
We may fail to realize that He is with us; but the 
fault is ours. 

We suffer: here it cannot be otherwise; but what are 
our sufferings compared with the sufferings endured 
by our dear Lord? And He was innocent! 



* 



In having all things and not Thee, what have 1 ? 
Not having Thee, what have my labours got? 
Let me enjoy but Thee, what further crave I ? 
And having Thee alone, what have I not? 
I wish not sea nor land; nor would I be 
Possessed of heaven, heaven unpossessed of Thee. 



o 



57 



The Lord be with you. 
Ans. — And with thy spirit, 
Let us pray. 

UR FATHER: 



O SAVIOUR of the world, who by thy Cross and 
precious Blood hast redeemed us: Save us, and 
help us, we humbly beseech thee, O Lord. 

We pray thee, O Christ, forsake us not in our dis- 
tress, but be at hand to comfort and deliver us, specially 
in the time of death. Amen. 

O BLESSED Lord, the Father of mercies, and the 
God of all comfort: We beseech thee, look down 
in pity and compassion upon all thy afflicted servants. 
Grant that through patience and comfort of thy holy 
Scriptures they may have hope. Give them strength 
against all their temptations. Break not the bruised 
reed, nor quench the smoking flax. Shut not up thy 
tender mercies in displeasure; but make them to hear 
of joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast 
broken may rejoice. Deliver them from fear of the 
enemy, and lift up the light of thy countenance upon 
them, and give them peace; through the merits and 
mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

ALMIGHTY, eternal God, to whom there is never 
any prayer made without hope of mercy; be mer- 
ciful to us who have need of mercy. Grant that we 
may never know the darkness and dread of being with- 
out thee, but hold us by the hand in all our trials and 



58 

necessities, and at the last give us to see thee face to 
face; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

MANY a one. there be that say of my soul, There is 
no help for him in his God: but thou, O Lord, 
art my Defender, thou art my Worship and the Lifter-up 
of my head. Depart not from me in the time of my 
need, but defend thou me until this tyranny be overpast: 
for Jesus Christ's sake, our Saviour and Redeemer. 
A men. 



ALMIGHTY God, the Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, we humbly beseech thee, for his dear sake, 
his merits and cruel death which he suffered to deliver us 
from eternal death and the power of darkness, send into 
our hearts thy Spirit of Truth, to work in us a true, lively 
and steadfast faith, that the clear light of thy Gospel may 
lighten our minds, that we may learn and understand the 
wonderful and unspeakable mysteries of our redemption 
in Christ and by Christ: to whom, with thee and the Holy 
Ghost, be all honour, majesty, glory and dominion, for 
ever and ever. A men. 

ALMIGHTY and most merciful Father, who seest all 
our sorrows, and knowest all our necessities, come 
to our help, strengthen and defend us. Grant that our 
hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be 
found, and that we may serve thee with pure affection and 
cheerful mind. Keep from us the anxieties that hinder 
us, and give us courage to bear the troubles that make for 
our eternal welfare: for Jesus Christ's sake. A men. 



SSeatttnOe: "33Iefi£eU are tfjep to&icl) are persecuted for righteousness' 
sane : for tljeirs is tlje kingdom of fjeaoen." 

Loco's $)raper: "(EHoe us tl;is Hap our oailp breaO:" 

w iHan sljall not line bp breati alone, but op eoerp toorfc tljat pro- 
ceeHetb out of tlje mout{) of (0oH :" noto (0oS rcmoocs himself, 
ano tlje soul oroops toitlj Ijung;er. 

iltessag;e of tlje ioro ^estts to tlje Cljurclj : 

"Ij)e tljat ooercometlj, anU neepetb nip morns unto tlje enfc, to Ijttn 
mill 3T jibe potoer ooer tlje nations; an* 3" mill gioe fcim tlje 
morning; star/' 



V. Christ, the Man: 

Suffering physical pain. 



lettered a few minutes after the Fourth Word. J 



" After this, Jesus knowing that alt things iuere 7iow accomplished, that 
the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith, 

♦31 ttywv" 



" I stretch forth my hands unto thee : my soul gasPeth unto thee as a ti. 
land"—{Ps. cxliii, 6.) 



Psalm 42. Quern ad modum. 

LIKE as the hart desireth the water-brooks: so longeth 
my soul after thee, O God. 

2. My soul is athirst for God, yea, even for the living 
God: when shall I come to appear before the presence of 
God? 

3. My tears have been my meat day and night: while 
they daily say unto me, Where is now thy God? 

4. Now when I think thereupon, I pour out my heart 
by myself: for I went with the multitude, and brought 
them forth into the house of God; 

5. In the voice of praise and thanksgiving: among 
such as keep holy-day. 

6. Why art thou so full of heaviness, O my soul: and 
why art thou so disquieted within me? 

7. Put thy trust in God: for I will yet give him thanks 
for the help of his countenance. 

8. My God, my soul is vexed within me: therefore 
will I remember thee concerning the kind of Jordan, and 
the little hill of I lermon. 



bo 



6i 
f 

9. One deep calleth another, because of the noise of 
thy water-pipes: all thy waves and storms are gone over 
me. 

10. The Lord hath granted his loving-kindness in the 
day-time: and in the night season did I sing of him, and 
made my prayer unto the God of my life. 

11. I will say unto the God of my strength, Why hast 
thou forgotten me: why go I thus heavily, while the enemy 
oppresseth me? 

12. My bones are smitten asunder as with a sword: 
while mine enemies that trouble me cast me in the teeth; 

13. Namely, while they say daily unto me: Where is 
now thy God? 

14. Why art thou so vexed, O my soul: and why art 
thou so disquieted within me? 

15. O put thy trust in God: for I will yet thank him, 
which is the help of my countenance, and my God. 



Psalm 102. Domine y exaudi. — (5 Penitential.) 

HEAR my prayer, O Lord: and let my crying come 
unto thee. 

2. Hide not thy face from me in the time of my 
trouble: incline thine ear unto me when I call; O hear me, 
and that right soon. 

3. For my days are consumed away like smoke: and 
my bones are burnt up as it were a firebrand. 

4. My heart is smitten down, and withered like grass: 
so that I forget to eat my bread. 

5. For the voice of my groaning: my bones will 
scarce cleave to my flesh. 

6. I am become like a pelican in the wilderness: and 
like an owl that is in the desert. 

7. I have watched, and am even as it were a sparrow: 
that sitteth alone upon the housetop. 



62 

8. Mine enemies revile me all the day long: and they 
that are mad upon me are sworn together against me. 

9. For I have eaten ashes as it were bread: and 
mingled my drink with weeping. 

10. And that, because of thine indignation and wrath: 
for thou hast taken me up, and cast me down. 

11. My days are gone like a shadow: and I am with- 
ered like grass. 

12. But thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever: and thy 
remembrance throughout all generations. 

13. Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Sion: for it 
is time that thou have mercy upon her, yea, the time is 
come. 

14. And why? thy servants think upon her stones: and 
it pitieth them to see her in the dust. 

15. The heathen shall fear thy Name, O Lord: and 
all the kings of the earth thy majesty; 

16. When the Lord shall build up Sion: and when his 
glory shall appear; 

17. When he turneth him unto the prayer of the poor 
destitute: and despiseth not their desire. 

18. This shall be written for those that come after: and 
the people which shall be born shall praise the Lord. 

19. For he hath looked down from his sanctuary: out 
of the heaven did the Lord behold the earth; 

20. That he might hear the mournings of such as are 
in captivity: and deliver the children appointed unto death; 

2 1 . That they may declare the Name of the Lord in 
Sion: and his worship at Jerusalem; 

22. When the people are gathered together: and the 
kingdoms also, to serve the Lori>. 

23. He brought down my strength in my journey: and 
shortened my days. 

24. Hut I said, O my God, take me not away in the 



63 

midst of mine age: as for thy years, they endure through- 
out all generations. 

25. Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the founda- 
tion of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy 
hands. 

26. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: they all 
shall wax old as doth a garment; 

27. And as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they 
shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years 
shall not fail. 

28. The children of thy servants shall continue: and 
their seed shall stand fast in thy sight. 



* * * 



u I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I 
straitened till it be accomplished! " (St. Luke xii, 50.) 

" Whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in 
my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, 
he shall not lose his reward" (St. Mark ix, 41.) 

" Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give 
him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him 
shall be in him a well of water, springing up into ever- 
lasting life." (St. John iv, 14.) 

" They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; 
neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat." (Rev. 
vii, 16J) 



*4 

"If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink" 
( St. John rv'/, J/.) 



Hymn VI. 

FAR from my heavenly home, 
Far from my Father's breast, 
Fainting I cry, blest Spirit, come, 
And speed me to my rest. 

My spirit homeward turns, 
And fain would thither flee; 

My heart, O Sion, droops and yearns, 
When I remember thee. 

To thee, to thee I press, 
A dark and toilsome road ; 

When shall I pass the wilderness, 
And reach the saints' abode? 

God of my life, be near: 

On Thee my hopes I cast: 
Oh, guide me through the desert here, 

And bring me home at last. 



"I /err have we no continuing city, but zk one to 

come" (Ifeb. a///, /./.) 



65 



Meditation: 

The spiritual conflict over, the physical suffering makes 
itself felt: the thirst of fever and the thirst of the 
dying. He could not drink the draught of wine 
mingled with myrrh offered Him when about to be 
laid on the Cross, to dull or deaden consciousness. 
He must needs face Death with mind awake and 
alert: realizing to the full its pain and terrors; 
accepting voluntarily its fiercest fury; and conquering, 
not by weakness, but by active and triumphant sub- 
mission. But now in His worn and wearied body 
comes the burning thirst. He is as one coming out 
of strife into rest; and by this cry He shows the 
reality both of His pain and of His humanity. 

4 'And one ran and filled a sponge full of vinegar, and 
put it on a reed, and gave Him to drink." Poor 
humanity's little kindness to its dying Lord! No 
hand was there to smooth His brow, no voice 
to whisper words of cheer and hope: only a rude 
soldier to place the vinegar against His lips. Some 
indeed still mocked, and said, "Let be;" but this 
man ■ ' ran " to do what he could to help the Suf- 
ferer. Nameless, and yet the honour came to him 
of the last ministration to the Saviour of the world. 
Perhaps more than pity moved him. The mercy 
that earlier found the thief and brought him home 
to God, may have gone out to this poor pagan and 
given him faith and hope. 

That our Lord suffered this pain of thirst, perhaps the 
least of His agonies, is an assurance that He sym- 
pathizes with us in all our sufferings. He has 



66 

walked In the way by which every soul must jour- 
ney through this world into the Life beyond. He 

feels for us in every pain that touches us. Our 
bod)-, though only the tabernacle of the soul, is 
sacred to Him; and in illness, distress and death 
He watches over us, bears with us, pities us, and 
suffers with us, in love and anxiety greater than 
that of mother for her child. 

Pain may be evil in itself, but "all things," even ill 
things, "work together for good to them that love 
God." The ill is not always taken away: it is a 
means to an end that shall be for the highest eood. 
So our Lord went through it all: and St. Paul, 
though he plead for relief from the thorn in the 
flesh, learns that God's grace is sufficient. In the 
hours of our physical suffering may we pray, not 
so much for the ceasing of pain, as that God will 
bring the good out of it, and make us true and 
brave. "He that endureth unto the end shall be 
saved. " 

But this thirst of Christ, though primarily indicating a 
bodily need, suggests the thirst which possessed 
His soul. The strongest and most determined of all 
the passions that can seize us is thirst. When that 
intense, absorbing craving comes over us all else is 
forgotten. Such a longing has Christ for the souls 
of men. To save them He suffers and dies. 
Heaven and self are given up. His love is a thirst 
that only our penitence and love can satisfy. He 
thirsts for each one of US — for me! 

Our life is a poor offering to make to Him: poor, even 
as was the gift of the soldier. Yet let US not despise 
it. Nor any human being, however far away from 
righteousness. Christ died for every one of God's 



6 7 

children; and longs for them to come home. None 
can tell what the grace of God can do. The poorest 
earthly material is of use to Him, and is precious 
in His sight. If we would be like . our Saviour 
Christ, we, too, must thirst for those who are away 
from Him. 
In death, if we are conscious of the meaning of death, 
we shall long for more than ease to the flesh or 
freedom from pain. The soul's deepest need then 
will be reconciliation to God. To know that we 
are one with Him and He is one with us. To real- 
ize that underneath are the everlasting arms. To 
rest conscious that He is ready to receive us. To 
see that He has set before us the open door that 
no man can shut. In that moment we shall thirst 
for Him as never before. The things of earth will 
be as nothing when God is all and in all. 

* * * 

a Ah! the softest place to rest, 
Weary heart, is Jesus' breast. 
None so tender and so tried 
As our Brother crucified. 
Nowhere else is calm so sweet 
As beneath those pierced feet, 
Which through all the paths have gone 
Where we slowly wander on." 



68 



o 



The Lord be with you. 
Ans. — And with thy spirit, 
Let us pray. 

UR FATHER: 



O SAVIOUR of the world, who by thy Cross and 
precious Blood hast redeemed us; Save us, and 
help us, we humbly beseech thee, O Lord. 

We pray thee, O Christ, by this most bitter death 
of thine, and by the shedding of thy most precious Blood, 
wound our hearts with such repentance of our sins and 
joy of thy love, that our tears may be our food day 
and night. Amen. 



OGOD, who hast prepared for those who love thee 
such good things as pass man's understanding; 
Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we, 
loving thee above all things, may obtain thy promises, 
which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. 



OGOD, who art worthy of a greater love than we can 
<dve or understand, fill our hearts with such love 
towards thee as may east out all sloth and fear, that noth- 
ing may seem too hard for us to do or suffer, in obedi- 
ence to thee; and grant that by thus loving thee we may 
daily become more like unto thee, and finally obtain the 
crOWll of life which thou hast promised to them that love 

thee: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



6 9 

OLORD JESU, thou Lover of the poor and lost, thou 
who didst thirst for the souls of men: grant unto 
us thy mercy, and loose the bonds of our sins; and 
wherein we have erred from righteousness or wronged 
thee in thought or word or deed, do thou, who know- 
est the feebleness of men, bestow upon us forgiveness 
and guidance, fill us with thy fear, purify us, and direct 
us into thy holy will: whom, with the Father and the Holy 
Ghost, we worship and glorify as one God, world without 
end. Amen. 



OHOLY JESU, we beseech thee make us mindful of 
thy pains and sufferings, which thou enduredst for 
our sins, that we might be set free from them, and through 
thy chastisement our atonement be made with thy Father. 
Make us mindful of thy great love to us and to all man- 
kind, and let the infiniteness thereof kindle an unfeigned 
love in us towards thee and our neighbour. Grant us 
true repentance, amendment of life, perseverance in all 
goodness, a steadfast faith, and a happy death, through 
the merits of thy sufferings, that we may also be made 
partakers of thy blessed resurrection. Amen. 

OLORD Jesus Christ, thou wast crucified for us, so, we 
beseech thee, crucify us with thee, that we may rise 
again to everlasting life. Bring to pass, O Lord, that 
by thy Cross and painful suffering thy yoke may to us be 
made light, and thy burden easy, that willingly and gladly 
following thee, we may come whither thou hast gone; 
where with the Father and the Holy Ghost, thou livest and 
reignest ever, one God, world without end. Amen. 



*5eatituoe: "33lesseo are tljcp mbtcb Ho bunjrcr anto thirst afttr rijjbt 
eousness : for tljcp sball be ftUetf." 

Lore's flraper: " Jorgtoe us our trespasses, as toe forgone tbose toljo 
trespass against us;" — 

Cbirstina; after ngbtcousness, peace an& ffoofctoill: therefore 
first forgiveness. 

Message of tbc Loro 3>sus to tf)c Cburcj): 

M |)€ trjat oocrcomctb, tbc same sball be clotbco in mbtte raiment: 
ana 3T ttitll not blot out \)i& name out of tbc book of life, but 
3T mill confess bis name before mp Jatber, ano before bis 
angels." 



VI. Christ, the Victor: 

Conquering and Making Peace by His Death, 

[Follows immediately the preceding utterance.] 
1 ' When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, 

« 3|t i& finishes." 



"/ have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which 
thou gavest me to do" — {John xvii, /.) 



Psalm 68. Exsurgat Deus. 

LET God arise, and let his enemies be scattered: let 
them also that hate him flee before him. 

2. Like as the smoke vanisheth, so shalt thou drive 
them away: and like as wax melteth at the fire, so let the 
ungodly perish at the presence of God. 

3. But let the righteous be glad, and rejoice before 
God: let them also be merry and joyful. 

4. O sing unto God, and sing praises unto his Name: 
magnify him that rideth upon the heavens, as it were 
upon an horse; praise him in his Name JAH, and rejoice 
before him. 

5. He is a Father of the fatherless, and defendeth 
the cause of the widows: even God in his holy habitation. 

6. He is the God that maketh men to be of one mind 
in an house, and bringeth the prisoners out of captivity: 
but letteth the runagates continue in scarceness. 

7. O God, when thou wentest forth before the peo- 
ple: when thou wentest through the wilderness, 

8. The earth shook, and the heavens dropped at the 
presence of God: even as Sinai also was moved at the 
presence of God, who is the God of Israel. 



72 

9. Thou, O God, sentest a gracious rain upon thine 
inheritance: and refreshedst it when it was weary. 

10. Thy congregation shall dwell therein: for thou, O 
God, hast of thy goodness prepared for the poor. 

ii. The Lord gave the word: great was the company 
of the preachers. 

12. Kings with their armies did flee, and were dis- 
comfited: and they of the household divided the spoil. 

13. Though ye have lain among the pots, yet shall ye 
be as the wings of a dove: that is covered with silver 
wings, and her feathers like gold. 

14. When the Almighty scattered kings for their sake: 
then were the)' as white as snow in Salmon. 

15. As the hill of Hasan, so is God's hill: even an 
high hill, as the hill of Basan. 

16. Why hop ye so, ye high hills? this is God's hill, 
in the which it pleaseth him to dwell: yea, the Lord will 
abide in it forever. 

17. 'The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even 
thousands of angels: and the Lord is among them as in 
the hoi)' place of Sinai. 

iS. Thou art gone up on high, thou hast led captivity 
captive, and received gifts for men: yea, even for thine 
enemies, that the Lord God might dwell among them. 

19. Praised be the Lord daily: even the God who 
helpeth us, and poureth his benefits upon us. 

20. He is our God, even the God of whom cometh 
salvation: God is the Lord, by whom we escape death. 

2i. God shall wound the head of his enemies: and the 
hairy scalp ol such a one as goeth on still in his wicked- 

22. The Lord hath said, I will bring my people again, 
as 1 did from Basan: mine own will I bring again, as I 
did sometime from the deep of the sea. 

23. That thy loot may be dipped in the blood of thine 



73 

enemies: and that the tongue of thy dogs may be red 
through the same. 

24. It is well seen, O God, how thou goest : how thou, 
my God and King, goest in the sanctuary. 

25. The singers go before, the minstrels follow after: 
in the midst are the damsels playing with the timbrels. 

26. Give thanks, O Israel, unto God the Lord in the 
congregations: from the ground of the heart. 

27. There is little Benjamin their ruler, and the 
princes of Judah their council: the princes of Zebulon, and 
the princes of Nephthali. 

28. Thy God hath sent forth strength for thee: stab- 
lish the thing, O God, that thou hast wrought in us, 

29. For thy temple's sake at Jerusalem: so shall kings 
bring presents unto thee. 

30. When the company of the spearmen and multi- 
tude of the mighty are scattered abroad among the beasts 
of the people, so that they humbly bring pieces of silver: 
and when he hath scattered the people that delight in war; 

31. Then shall the princes come out of Egypt: the 
Morians' land shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. 

32. Sing unto God, O ye kingdoms of the earth: O 
sing praises unto the Lord; 

33. Who sitteth in the heavens over all, from the 
beginning: lo, he doth send out his voice; yea, and that a 
mighty voice. 

34. Ascribe ye the power to God over Israel: his wor- 
ship and strength is in the clouds. 

35. O God, wonderful art thou in thy holy places: 
even the God of Israel, he will give strength and power 
unto his people. Blessed be God. 



74 

Psalm 130. Be profundi's — (6 Penitential'). 

OUT of the deep have I called unto thee, O Lord: 
Lord, hear my voice. 

2. O let thine ears consider well: the voice of my 
complaint. 

3. If thou, Lord, wilt be extreme to mark what is 
done amiss: O Lord, who may abide it? 

4. For there is mercy with thee: therefore shalt thou 
be feared. 

5. I look for the Lord; my soul doth wait for him: 
in his word is my trust. 

6. My soul fleeth unto the Lord: before the morning 
watch, I say, before the morning watch. 

7. O Israel, trust in the Lord, for with the Lord 
there is mercy: and with him is plenteous redemption. 

8. And he shall redeem Israel: from all his sins. 



* * * 



u IIe hath poured out his sou/ unto death" (/so. I Hi. 

12.) 

" Christ (dso hath once suffered for sins, the just for 
the unjust, that he might bring us to God. " ( / Peter Hi, iS. ) 

11 Jesus said unto then/: My meat is to do the will of 
him that sent me, and to finish his work.* 1 (S/. John i:\ 

34-) 

^ / am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I Jive: yet 
not /, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now 
live in the flesh I live by the faith of' the Sou of God, who 
loved me, and gave himself for me" {Gal. H. 20. ) 



75 



" Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many " 
(Heb. ix, 28.) 



Hymn VII. 

SEE the destined day arise! 
See, a willing sacrifice! 
Jesus, to redeem our loss, 
Hangs upon the shameful cross. 

Jesu, who but Thou had borne, 
Lifted on that tree of scorn, 
Every pang and bitter throe, 
Finishing Thy life of woe? 

Who but Thou had dared to drain 
Steeped in gall the cup of pain; 
And with tender body bear 
Thorns, and nails, and piercing spear? 

Thence the cleansing waters flowed; 
Mingled from Thy side with blood; 
Sign to all attesting eyes 
Of the finished sacrifice. 

Holy Jesu, grant us grace 

In that sacrifice to place 

All our trust for life renewed, 

Pardoned sin and promised good. 



"His own self bare our sins in his own body on the 
tree. " ( / Peter ii, 24. ) 



7 6 



Meditation: 

Strengthened by the act of the soldier, so that He could 
pass out of life in physical consciousness and power, 
our Divine Redeemer immediately proceeded to 
" taste death for every man." Yet, as said an early 
Christian hymn, it was not Death that approached 
Christ, but Christ Death. He died without Death: 
the Conqueror and not the conquered. His life 
was still His own: "I have power to lay it down, 
and I have power to take it again." And Christ 
went on His way, still the Master! 

Doubtless when they saw Him crucified and dying, His 
enemies thought that the work of the Galilean was 
finished. He could harm them no more. The 
traditions of Israel were safe. Another innovator 
was gone. Now the people would walk undis- 
turbed in the old ways. The Prophet of Nazareth, 
the Breaker of the Peace, the Antagonist, had been 
brought to an end. His pretensions were scattered 
to the winds. His influence was over. So since 
that day other enemies of the Faith have thought 
as they dealt the blows beneath which the Church 
staggered and drooped. So some say of Chris- 
tianity to-day, "It is finished." History shows the 
falsity of all such fancies. They who indulge in 
them fail to discern the power of Christ. 

Perhaps, too, the Beloved Disciple, who seems to have 
returned after taking away the Blessed Virgin, and 
others who had begun to pity the patient Sufferer. 
felt relief when the anguish and the agony were 
finished. They may have thought of Death as a 



77 

merciful friend: and in a sense rejoiced in their 
sorrows. This death was so different from that of 
the great Prophet on the heights of Nebo. Both 
deaths were indeed lonely — what death is not? — 
but a precious tradition told that God kissed 
Moses as he lay a-dying; while Jesus, till He 
stretched out His hand and grasped Death, had 
been rent and torn with pain. None of them knew 
that though Moses had been shown the Promised 
Land before he was taken away, Jesus had also 
seen in the repentant thief the promise of the glo- 
rious Kingdom. And none of them knew that this 
Man would do a greater thing than come down 
from the Cross: that He would burst asunder the 
bonds of the grave! They thought of His pains; 
and the pains were over. 

Finished, too, His friends and disciples probably thought 
were the hopes and expectations He had created 
in them by His gracious words and deeds, and 
still more beautiful life. Never again would days 
come so rich in happy and precious experiences as 
were the days when He was with them. Alas ! 
Love was stronger than Death, but Love without 
faith is no more than a memory, and faith was dying. 

Both friend and foe misunderstood the Word: as often- 
times now they hear wrongly and interpret wrongly 
the utterances and revelations of God. In the light 
which soon came in unending clearness the disci- 
ples learned the meaning of the Saviour's saying. 
Instead of defeat, it was triumph. In the day when 
we fail to discern the reason of God's action 
towards us may we have faith to rest in His assur- 
ance, "What I do thou knowest not now; but thou 
shalt know hereafter." 



78 

Now were indeed finished the types and prophecies 
which through long ages had led Israel in the hope 
of the Messiah and Redeemer. No longer need 
for the kindling of the sacrificial fire, for the slay- 
ing of the lamb: on the Altar, of which the old 
altars had been a shadow, the true Victim had been 
offered up. He was the Lamb of God. No longer 
need for singer and seer to tell of the coming of 
the Da) r : the Day had come. The mystery of the 
ages was unfolded; the dispensation of the law was 
ended. That long era of history now was closed. 
A new Jerusalem! A new life for man! The 
former things were passing away: finished and done 
with. 

Now the Perfect Example is finished. There is no higher 
type of manhood possible. Not by word, but by 
pattern, our dear Lord has taught man how to live 
and how to die. He Himself is now perfected: 
the Guide, to lead His people through even the 
dark valley ; the Redeemer, to save them from the 
saddest of all captivities, the slavery of sin and the 
fear of death ; the Lord and King, even of man's 
last enemy. Now at Calvary has He finished the 
experiences of the earthly life. Henceforth shall 
man look to Him and seek to follow in His foot- 
steps. 

The terror of Death is ended — at least for all who are 
one with Christ. Henceforth no child of God shall 
die! He may fall asleep; but he shall awake up 
alter the likeness of his Lord, and be satisfied 
with the fullness of joy. timid soul ! When at 
Calvary 1 >eath so fiercely struck, he lost and left 
his sting in Christ. His venom is gone; his power 
is finished. All that hi' can do now is to stand 



79 

as a servitor, and at the bidding of God open the 
gates for the ransomed of Zion to pass through on 
their way to Paradise. 

The redemption of man is accomplished; the wall of 
partition is broken down; the keystone is set in 
the arch that spans the gulf between God and man. 
In that He has overcome the sharpness of death, 
He opens the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers. 
Now is our salvation finished. The sacrifice is 
accepted. 

Thus the Life of humiliation, tireless effort and suffer- 
ing had gained its purpose. Christ had conquered 
in the wilderness, through the weary journey and 
at Calvary. Adam had failed in a Paradise. 

But the suffering! What a fearful thing sin must be 
to require such a sacrifice for its removal! 

How great must be the love of God to give up to 
death His Only-begotten Son! How great the 
love of the Son to pass into death for the sake of 
those who as yet had no love for Him! 



* * * 



" When this passing world is done, 
When has sunk yon glaring sun, 
When we stand with Christ in glory, 
Looking o'er life's finished story, 
Then, Lord, shall I fully know, — 
Not till then, — how much I owe." 



8o 



o 



The Lord be with you. 
Ans. — And with thy spirit. 
Let us pray. 

UR FATHER: 



O SAVIOUR of the world, who by thy Cross and 
precious Blood hast redeemed us; Save us, and 
help us, we humbly beseech thee, O Lord. 

We pray thee, C) Christ, grant that our continual 
minding of thy most holy and bitter pain upon the 
Cross may cause us to stand in awe of thee, and also 
to love thee. Amen. 

ALMIGHTY GOD, who hast given thine only Son 
to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin, and also 
an ensample of godly life; Give us grace that we may 
always most thankfully receive that his inestimable bene- 
fit, and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow the 
blessed steps of his most holy life; through the same 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

ALMIGHTY GOD, our heavenly Father, we humbly 
beseech thee to grant, that as thine only-begotten 

Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, according to his blessed 
will, suffered death and bitter passion for our salva- 
tion, so we, in like manner, whensoever it may be thy 
pleasure to lay cross and affliction upon us. may also 
willingly and patiently bear it, in the trial of our faith 
for the latter day, unto thine everlasting glory: through 
the same Jesus Christ our Lord. A men. 



8i 

ALMIGHTY and merciful God, of whose only gift 
it cometh that thy faithful people do unto thee 
true and laudable service; Grant, we beseech thee, that 
we may so faithfully serve thee in this life, that we 
fail not finally to attain thy heavenly promises; through 
the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

O CHRIST our God, who art faithful and true, 
thine holy name is as ointment poured forth, and 
in every place incense and a pure sacrifice is offered 
unto thee: We pray thee, let our prayer be set forth 
in thy sight as the incense, and the lifting up of our 
hands as an evening sacrifice; for thou art the true 
Evening Sacrifice, offered up for our sins on the pre- 
cious cross after the will of thy Father; who art blessed 
with him and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen. 

GRANT us, O Lord, a tender, loving and merciful 
heart toward our brethren; and long-suffering and 
patience to bear all things well that thy providence shall 
see fit to lay upon us: for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. 

OMOST Merciful Father, consider our infirmities, 
which are many and great, and bear our imperfec- 
tions, for his sake who had experience of our infirmity, 
that he mieht be merciful unto all those who are afflicted, 
Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord. Amen. 



Scatituoc: "35lcsscB arc t\)t peacemakers : for tbcp sball be called tl;e 
cbtloren of <0oo." 

Lor&'s JJrapcr: "Leafc us not into temptation:" 
Life's trials are oocr; tbc journrp cnSeU. 

iHeosag;e of tbc Lorfc Jt&ua to tbc Cburcb: 

"pim tbat oocreometb mill 3 make a pillar tn tbc temple of mp 
(HoU, anfc be sball go no more out; anil J mtll mrite upon btm 
tbc name of mp (*5oto, anU tbc name of tbc citp of m? tf5oo\ 
tubicb is ncm Jerusalem, tabid; comctb aoron out of bcaocn 
from mv (S5od: an& 3T tutll mritc upon btm mp ncm name." 



VII. Christ, the Holy One of 
God: 

Perfect Resignation. 

[Uttered at the time of Offering the Evening Sacrifice: (3 p. m.)] 
"And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, 

"jfattjer, into ttn? IjanDs; 31 commenD mp spirit*" 



" And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither 
shall there be any?nore pain : for the fomjier things are fiassedaway" {Rev. 
xxi, 4.) 



Psalm 23. Dominus regit vie. 

THE Lord is my shepherd: therefore can I lack 
nothing. 

2. He shall feed me in a green pasture: and lead me 
forth beside the waters of comfort. 

3. He shall convert my soul: and bring me forth in 
the paths of righteousness for his Name's sake. 

4. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the 
shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with 
me; thy rod and thy staff comfort me. 

5. Thou shalt prepare a table before me against 
them that trouble me: thou hast anointed my head with 
oil, and my cup shall be full. 

6. But thy loving-kindness and mercy shall follow 
me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house 
of the Lord forever. 



8 4 

Psalm 143. Domine, exaudt. — (7 Penitential . | 

IIEAR my prayer, O Lord, and consider my desire: 

* ■ hearken unto me for thy truth and righteousness' 
sake. 

2. And enter not into judgment with thy servant: 
for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. 

3. For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath 
smitten my life down to the ground: he hath laid me 
in the darkness, as the men that have been long dead. 

4. Therefore is my spirit vexed within me: and my 
heart within me is desolate. 

5. Yet do I remember the time past; I muse upon 
all thy works: yea, I exercise myself in the works of 
thy hands. 

6. I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul 
gaspeth unto thee as a thirsty land. 

7. Hear me, O Lord, and that soon, for my spirit 
waxeth faint: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like 
unto them that go down into the pit. 

8. O let me hear thy loving-kindness betimes in 
the morning, for in thee is my trust: show thou me the 
way that I should walk in, for I lift up my soul unto 
thee. 

9. Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies: for I 
flee unto thee to hide me. 

10. Teach me to do the thing that pleaseth thee; 
for thou art my God: let thy loving Spirit lead me forth 
into the land of righteousness. 

11. Quicken me, O Lord, for thy Name's sake: 
and for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of 
trouble. 

12. And of thy goodness slay mine enemies: and 
destroy all them that vex my soul; for I am thy servant. 



o 



85 

Hymn VIII. 

SACRED Head surrounded 
By crown of piercing thorn! 



bleeding Head, so wounded, 
Reviled and put to scorn! 

Death's pallid hue comes o'er Thee, 

The glow of life decays, 
Yet angel-hosts adore Thee, 

And tremble as they gaze. 

1 see Thy strength and vigour, 
All fading in the strife, 

And death with cruel rigour, 

Bereaving Thee of life! 
O agony and dying! 

O love to sinners free! 
Jesu, all grace supplying, 

Oh, turn Thy face on me. 

In this, Thy bitter Passion, 

Good Shepherd, think of me 
With Thy most sweet compassion, 

Unworthy though I be: 
Beneath Thy cross abiding 

Forever would I rest, 
In Thy dear love confiding, 

And with Thy presence blest. 

Be near when I am dying; 

Oh, show Thy cross to me: 
And to my succour flying, 

Come, Lord, and set me free. 
These eyes, new faith receiving, 

From Jesus shall not move ; 
For he, who dies believing, 

Dies safely through Thy love. 



86 



Meditation: 

An utterance restful, satisfied, childlike: revealing depths 
of love and trust! A sublime height in the religious 
life is reached when the soul can realize in fullness 
and in individuality the Fatherhood of God. This 
realization is immeasurably distant from the theory. 
Repentance, devotion and sacrifice come before it: 
even a life given up to God. 

The " commending ' ' is not merely "recommending," 
but entrusting, depositing, giving up for safe-keep- 
ino-. And that, not to an anq^el, be he ever so 
mighty-winged and loving, much less to Death, 
who as an enemy stands ready to seize and to 
soothe into oblivion his victim, but into the hands 
of God Himself — the only life-giver: so that from 
God He may receive back again His life in imper- 
ishable power and glory. God will take care of 
the soul, and protect it from all danger and all 
distress. Our dear Lord went into the Father's 
keeping; there, too, are the Blessed Dead. 

The words accord with the voluntary character of Christ's 
death. "He poured out his soul unto death:" 
implying active^ rather than passive, submission. 
So St. Matthew, "He yielded up the ghost," or, 
rather. M He sent forth," or, » ' discharged his spirit; 
St. Mark and St. Luke, " He breathed out his spirit:" 
and St. John, "lie surrendered the spirit." The 
Evangelists seem purposely to avoid the use of the 
word "died:" perhaps, because the word implies a 
helplessness which did not come to Him who met 
death only as a Master. 



87 

The last utterance on the Cross has been repeated in 
their dying moment by many Christian folk. St. 
Polycarp and St. Bernard; Charles the Great, St. 
Louis of France and Christopher Columbus; Luther, 
Ridley, Lady Jane Grey and George Herbert; and 
multitudes, eminent and obscure, have gone out of 
death into life with these words on their lips. 
Thus, too, devout people lay themselves down to 
sleep. 

" I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever:" 
dwell, that is, sabbath there ; rest there from toil 
and sorrow, as a traveller from a pilgrimage or 
a sufferer from pain. So for the people of God 
there remaineth a rest, that is, a Sabbath: the quiet, 
peace and joy of the endless day. To our Lord had 
come the eve of the Sabbath; and the end was 
peace — He was led forth beside the waters of 
comfort. 

Now did our Lord pass into the region where until the 
Resurrection remain the souls of men: there, in Para- 
dise to receive the penitent thief, and in the prison- 
house to proclaim His victory to those held therein. 
More than this we may not now know: only the 
glory of heaven is not His until in His Body, per- 
fect Man, He ascends thither. 

Having said these words, He bowed His head, as if 
leaning after His toil and pain upon His Father's 
breast, and all that men could see was over. The 
exodus was made. 

A shudder passed through the earth. Nature had 
shrouded her face; now she trembles at the death 
of her Lord. And as Christ descended into Hades, 
bodies of some saints arose: indeed, after His 
Resurrection, they appeared unto many in the Holy 



88 

City; later, it would seem, as tokens of His power 
over Heath and the Grave, to enter with Him into 
heaven. 

The Centurion and others standing by saw and heard 
the things which were done, and received grace. 
"Truly this was the Son of God'" What a mis- 
take had been made! Israel had crucified the King 1 
And yet the King, even in His death, was win- 
ning the souls of men! 

At the time of the Evening Sacrifice, as the soul of 
Christ went out to God, the priest entered the 
Holy Place to offer incense. He beheld, not, as 
Zacharias, an angel beside the altar, but the veil 
rent in twain — rent by the hand of God. The 
Hoi)- of Holies was thrown open. The Shekinah 
had departed. 



11 Oh the holy raptured greetings 

That shall thrill yon fragrant air! 
Oh the blessed words of welcome 
Waiting wanderers over there ! 

44 Oh how silver sweet the voices! 

Oh how fair the features grown! 
4 Changed from glory into glory,' 

Changed, but still our own, our own ! 






8 9 



Seven is a perfect number, and in the Seven Words 
from the Cross are the outlines of a Perfect Gospel: — 

i. — "Father, forgive:" we are taught that the 
Divine Mercy may be exercised towards all 
men, even to the enemies of the Cross of Christ. 

2. — "To-day:" we see the care of the Saviour for 
each soul that desires Him, and turns to Him. 

3. — "Woman, behold:" we learn how Christ 
blesses the charities of the home-life, putting us 
in one another's care, so that in serving others 
we may serve Him. 

4. — "My God, my God:" the cry out of the dark- 
ness bids us not lose heart or think that God 
has abandoned us, when sin hides God from us, 
or we are weak and lonely. 

5. — "I thirst:" teaches the deep longing of our 
Saviour for our love. How glad we can make 
Him! 

6. — "It is finished:" not only tells us of the new 
relation between God and man, but also bids us 
look on to the end both of our own life and of 
this age — to the triumph of the purposes of God. 

7. — "Father, into thy hands:" brings us all one 
by one together with Him before the Father 
of all men. 



o 



90 



The Lord be with you. 
Ans. — And with thy spirit. 
Let us pray. 

UR FATHER: 



SAVIOUR of the world, who by thy Cross and 
precious Blood hast redeemed us: Save us, and 
help us, we humbly beseech thee, O Lord. 

We pray thee, O Christ, preserve here our soul 
from all sin, and at the last receive it in peace, that 
with thy blessed saints we may praise thee everlast- 
ingly. Amen. 

OGOD, whose days are without end, and whose 
mercies cannot be numbered; Make us, we beseech 
thee, deeply sensible of the shortness and uncertainty 
of human life; and let thy Holy Spirit lead us through 
this vale of misery, in holiness and righteousness, all 
the days of our lives: that, when we shall have served 
thee in our generation, we ma)- be gathered unto our 
fathers, having the testimony of a good conscience; in 
the communion of the catholic Church; in the confidence 
of a certain faith; in the comfort of a reasonable, 
religious, and holy hope; in favour with thee our God, 
and in perfect charity with the world. All which we 
ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

O ALMIGHTY God. who hast knit together thine 
elect in one communion and fellowship, in the 
mystical body of thy Son Christ our Lord; Grant us 



grace so to follow thy blessed Saints in all virtuous 
and godly living, that we may come to those unspeak- 
able joys which thou hast prepared for those who 
unfeignedly love thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
A men. 



MAN, that is born of a woman, hath but a short time 
to live, and is full of misery. He cometh up, and 
is cut down, like a flower; he fleeth as it were a shadow, 
and never continueth in one stay. 

In the midst of life we are in death; of whom may 
we seek for succour, but of thee, O Lord, who for our 
sins art justly displeased? 

Yet, O Lord God most holy, O Lord most mighty, 
O holy and most merciful Saviour, deliver us not into 
the bitter pains of eternal death. 

Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts; 
shut not thy merciful ears to our prayer; but spare us, 
Lord most holy, O God most mighty, O holy and 
merciful Saviour, thou most worthy Judge eternal, 
suffer us not, at our last hour, for any pains of death, 
to fall from thee. 



OLORD JESU, who art the only health of all men 
living, and the everlasting life of those who die 
in thy faith, grant that the hope of thy mercy and life 
everlasting never decay in us, that charity wax not cold 
in us, and that the weakness of our flesh be not over- 
come with the fear of death. Grant, most merciful 
Saviour, when the great darkness overshadows us, we 
may yet have strength to commend our soul into thy 
hands, so that in the eternal light we may behold thy 
glory, and worship thee, and the Father and the Holy 
Ghost, one God for ever and ever. Amen. 



^eatituoe: "^IcgscU are tbe pure in Ijcart: for tbcp sball fiee tf5oo." 

Loro's prapcr: "33ut orlioer us from toil":— 
-Full animation bae come at last. 

iftffifiajr of tbe ILorU ^Trctifi to tbe Cbureb: 

M Co btm tbat ooereometb tuill 3f jjrant to ctt mttl; me in mp tbrone, 
etocn as *$ alco overcame, ano am set ootun roitb mp Jatber tn 
btfi tbrone." 



Christ, the Beloved of God and 
of Men: 

" My beloved is mine and I am his, 

"And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the 
veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom" 

" Wl)o lotoefc mt ana gator ^intself for mt." 



"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him the 
name which is above every name : that at the Name of Jesus every knee 
should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things tinder the 
earth : and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the 
glory of God the Father." — {Phil, ii, Q-n.) 

"Neither is there salvation in any other : for there is none other Name 
tinder heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" {Acts iv, 12.) 

" Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, andwis- 
do?n, and strength, and ho?iour, a?id glory, and blessing." {Rev. v, 12.) 

"Now is come salvation, and strength, a?id the Kingdom of our God, and 
the power of his Christ." {Rev. xii, 10.) 

"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows : yet we did 
esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our 
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our 
peace was upon him ; and with his stripes we are healed." {Isa. liii, 4, j.) 

"If we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him." 
{Rom. vi, 8.) 

" Truly our way to eternal joy is to suffer here with Christ ; and our door 
to enter into eternal life is gladly to die with Christ." (Visitation of the 
Sick.) 

93 



94 



"lie is Lord of lords, and Kino- of kings." (Rev. 
xvit, /./.) 



Hymn IX. 

ALL for Jesus — all for Jesus, 
This our song shall ever be; 
For we have no hope, nor Saviour, 
If we have not hope in Thee. 

All for Jesus — Thou wilt give us 

Strength to serve Thee, hour by hour; 

None can move us from Thy presence, 
While we trust Thy love and power. 

All for Jesus — at Thine altar 

Thou wilt give us sweet content; 

There, clear Lord, we shall receive Thee 
In the solemn Sacrament. 

All for Jesus — Thou hast loved us; 

All for Jesus — Thou hast died; 
All for Jesus — Thou art with us; 

All for Jesus Crucified. 

All for Jesus — all for Jesus, 

This the Church's song must be; 

Till, at last, her sons are gathered 
One in love and one in Thee. 



Let us labour to enter into that rest. 1 ' (l/eb. iv } it.) 



95 



Let us pray. 



ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who, of thy tender 
love towards mankind, hast sent thy Son, our 
Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon him our flesh, and to 
suffer death upon the cross, that all mankind should follow 
the example of his great humility; Mercifully grant, that 
we may both follow the example of his patience, and also 
be made partakers of his resurrection; through the same 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



ALMIGHTY God, with whom do live the spirits of 
those who depart hence in the Lord, and with whom 
the souls of the faithful, after they are delivered from the 
burden of the flesh, are in joy and felicity ; We give thee 
hearty thanks for the good examples of all those thy ser- 
vants, who, having finished their course in faith, do now 
rest from their labours. And we beseech thee, that we, 
with all those who are departed in the true faith of thy 
holy Name, may have our perfect consummation and 
bliss, both in body and soul, in thy eternal and everlast- 
ing glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



GRANT, O Lord, that as we are baptized into the 
death of thy blessed Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, 
so by continual mortifying our corrupt affections we may 
be buried with him; and that through the grave, and gate 
of death, we may pass to our joyful resurrection; for his 
merits, who died, and was buried, and rose again for us, 
thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



9 6 

OLORD Jesus Christ, who by thy death didst take 
away the sting of death; Grant unto us thy servants 

SO to follow in faith where thou hast led the way, that 
we ma)- at length fall asleep peacefully in thee, and awake 
up after thy likeness; through thy mercy, who livest with 
the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without 
end. A nidi. 



ALMIGHTY God, who hast promised to hear the peti- 
tions of those who ask in thy Son's Name; We be- 
seech thee mercifully to incline thine ears to us who have 
made now our prayers and supplications unto thee; and 
grant that those things which we have faithfully asked 
according to thy will, may effectually be obtained, to the 
relief of our necessity, and to the setting forth of thy 
glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



The Benediction. 

THE God of peace, who brought again from the dead 
our Lord Jesus Christ, the great Shepherd of the 
sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant; 
Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, 
working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight; 
through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. 
A men. 









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